Nine Gates
by monkeycrunch88
Summary: "Open! Gate of the Tailed Beasts!" A new mage comes knocking on the front door of Fairy Tail's guild with the ability to multiply and summon beasts to do his bidding, and according to Lucy, not any Celestial Spirit she's ever heard of. Strong, powerful, and a thirst for adventure. Watch as he opens new possibilities and finds new friends, one gate at a time. Longer Chapters!
1. Prologue: Hirake!

**Disclaimer: Fairy Tail and Naruto are works of their respective creators. I do not own or gain profit from this story.**

**AN: So I've had this little idea nagging at me for the longest time and I just had to get it out. I'm not a writer, so please be kind. FairyTailxNaruto crossovers are my new fanfic addiction and I just loved the idea of incorporating some concepts from the Naruto universe into the Fairy Tail universe. Celestial Spirit Magic has also always fascinated me and I've felt was always a little underrated, so I decided to create something similar that would hopefully be enjoyable. **

**Yes, there will be a timeskip, as this is just an introductory prologue. **

* * *

**Prologue: Hirake!**

Naruto.

That was all that anyone referred to him as. Just Naruto. No last name, no family ties, and certainly no "The Great and Powerful" anything attached.

It was what they called him at the orphanage, the Cedar Town Children's School, and the street markets. Most people in town knew his name at this point. He had lived here for as long as he could remember when he'd been dropped off on the front steps of the town hall nine years ago. For the most part, this was his home.

But today, nobody was calling him by his name. In the late afternoon and in the bustling open air market, people were yelling out-

"BRAT!"

Naruto ran through the street as a crowd of angry merchants chased behind him. Dodging rotten vegetables thrown at him and jumping over trader carts, he easily maneuvered through the crowds in front of him.

"I'm sorry!" he yelled over his shoulder, "I was just practicing!"

"That's what you always say," yelled an elderly balding man as he chucked a spoiled tomato.

"Yeah! But I swear this one's an accident too!"

Swiftly ducking from the sailing produce, Naruto sharply turned the corner and began to gather his magic for the only spell he'd managed to properly learn from the town archives. Two golden magic circles appeared on either side of him.

_'Kage Bunshin no Jutsu,'_ he thought and two duplicates of him appeared in the circles. Exact copies, from the spiky blond hair to the whisker birthmarks on his cheeks.

"Split up!" he yelled and his two clones gave him a salute before turning in different directions.

Jumping into the nearest alley, Naruto hid behind one of the garbage bins as the mob of angry townsfolk turned the corner and began chasing his clones. He watched as the confused group split up and ran after his doubles.

'_Heh heh,'_ Naruto thought, grinning, _'suckers.'_

Waiting a few minutes to make sure there were not stragglers, he let out a loud sigh before getting up and brushing of a piece of moldy carrot that one of them had managed to hit him with.

Coming out of the alley, he looked to either side of the street to make sure none of his pursuers decided to double back before coming out into the open.

Frowning down at his soiled clothes he thought , 'Well that was a bust. Ah well, better luck next time.'

"Hem hem…"

Naruto froze and a bead of sweat formed at his brow at the sound of someone clearing their throat. A hand came down to grasp him by the back of his orange t-shirt before a stern female voice said, "And what have you done this time young man?"

Turning around to view his captor, Naruto came face to face with the orphanage matron. A stern middle aged woman, Matron Clio did not take too kindly to backtalk, sloppiness, or in Naruto's case, rule breaking. Her glasses and graying hair making her appear more intimidating than grandmotherly.

He gave a nervous laugh and awkwardly scratching the back of his head.

"Onee-chan, what brings you to this part of town?"

Quirking an eyebrow at his attempt to make conversation, she swiftly moved her hand from the back of his shirt to one of his ears before pulling him with her.

"OW! OW! My ear! Let go! Let go!

* * *

Naruto sat in front of the Matron's desk as she looked at him over the piles of paperwork on her desk. Taking a quick glance he saw the top of the pile clearly had his name on it.

"So let me get this straight," Matron Clio said, as she placed her fingers to her temple, trying to alleviate the incoming headache forming, "You broke into the village magic archives…again, after I specifically told you not to anymore, to learn a new spell without supervision. Which resulted in spoiling the produce of merchants within a two mile radius."

"Well when you put it that way-"

"I'm not finished," she cut Naruto off, "and what pray tell was this fantastical new magic that you just had to learn, that you felt it was worth going against my instructions and costing several people their day's profit? What was it….rotting magic?" She glared down her spectacles at the frowning boy.

Naruto mumbled.

"What was that?"

"Vegetable Magic," he stated more clearly. (1)

"You caused all this chaos to learn…vegetable magic?!" she yelled, standing up quickly.

"It was the only one I thought wouldn't cause an explosion…this time."

Sighing, she sat back down. "Oh Naruto," Matron Clio said in exasperation, "what am I going to do with you? You refuse to regularly attend your lessons, you've caused more damage to this town than any dark mage ever could, and you won't even go to the blacksmithing apprenticeship that I managed to get you. You need to get your act together Naruto."

"But I told you! I don't want to be a blacksmith or anything like that," he replied.

"Oh, and what do you intend do in order to make a living?" she inquired even though she already knew the answer. It's been the same one he's been shouting at the breakfast table since he learned how to talk.

"I'm going to be one of the Ten Wizard Saints! Dattebayo!"

"And I told you that that's an unrealistic goal. Do you know the odds of someone becoming an S-class mage, let alone a Wizard Saint?"

"That's why I need to learn as much cool magic as I can! So that I can fight all the strong monsters and-"

She held up a hand to silence him.

"Naruto, I only want what's best for you," Matron Clio said, looking at him with a bit of sadness in her eyes, "Growing up in an orphanage isn't anyone's ideal situation, but we make the best of it. And the best of it isn't putting all our hopes on a dream. It's time to join reality."

Naruto frowned at that last part.

"Clean up and get ready for dinner," she continued, "I've told the mayor that you'll be working off the damage you've caused by helping out at the market starting tomorrow morning."

* * *

The full moon shone brightly along the beach near the town's pier.

Naruto could be found sitting at the far end of the beach, resting near the cliff that overlooked the ocean and furthest from the town's lights.

'_What does she know?'_ he mentally scoffed to himself_, 'I bet she's never even stepped foot outside the town borders.'_

He understood it was a difficult path to follow, but the more he thought about his life as a mage, the more he wanted it. Naruto thought about the adventures, the excitement, and friends you made on the journey. But most of all, he thought about the recognition.

Nine years and he'd somehow managed to slip by the radar of the many families that came by the orphanage looking to adopt. Year after year, he would watch as other children left with a new mother and father, taking one hand in each of theirs, and walking out the door.

He stopped pestering the town mayor, who had been the one to find him on the town hall steps, about whether or not he'd seen who had dropped Naruto off. Questions like why and who swam through his mind throughout the years.

Naruto had hoped to one day have a family of his own one day, but as each year passed, he grew less and less hopeful. Children over the age of five rarely got adopted and at nine, Naruto was part of the older group that was expected to start looking for work rather than family.

What better way to work and attain the recognition of others than as a mage, he'd thought to himself one day.

Looking at how high the moon had gotten in the sky Naruto thought_, 'It's pretty late. I should probably head back before Onee-chan sees that I snuck out.'_ He winced at the memory of the spanking he got the one time he'd gotten caught.

Standing up and brushing the sand from the back of his pants he started making his way towards the town lights when he heard it…felt it.

**Thrmmm…Thrmmm…Thrmmm…**

A thrumming sensation that reverberated from his ears to his gut.

'_What is that?,'_ he thought. Scanning his area, Naruto searched for the source of the sound before taking a few steps further away from the town and towards the far side of the cliff.

**Thrmmm…Thrmmm…Thrmmm…**

Carefully edging around the cliff so as to avoid getting wet by the waves that came in and out, he made his way around to the other side, using the bright moonlight to guide his steps.

**Thrmmm…Thrmmm…Thrmmm…**

The sound was louder from this side and Naruto felt as if even the hairs on the back of his neck were vibrating with the rhythms of the noise.

Eyeing his new surroundings and squinting into the darkness of the night, he found what appeared to be a solid iron chest buried halfway into the ground, about the size of Naruto's head, washed up onto the shore.

'_Cool!' _Naruto smiled with glee_,' Maybe it has treasure or jewels! Ramen for days! Yay!'_

Excited at the idea of finding a possible treasure, he hadn't even noticed that the sound that had brought him here had stopped the moment he had looked at the chest.

Walking closer, Naruto inspected the box and noticed the ornate designs carved into the metal as he got closer. At the very top of the box looked what appeared to be a rather muscular humanoid creature, but one that only had one eye with tomoe and circles surrounding the pupil. Its mouth was closed and it was hunched over in what appeared to be a sitting position. The ten tails protruding from behind it was carved in such a way that they appeared to wrap around and hold the chest rather than being part of the metal.

'_Creepy,' _Naruto thought to himself as he eyed the carving of the creature. Looking at its eye made him feel small and insignificant. As though the creature was something far older than anything he could imagine…something primal.

Shaking off this feeling Naruto got back to the task at hand. _'It's just a chest. Get a grip on yourself,' _he thought, then eyed the front_,' Damn! It needs a key!'_

Sighing that he'd have to wait before finding out how much was in the box, he moved to pick it up. _'Maybe I can pick the lock when I get home. Doesn't look all that heavy. If there's enough then I can probably pay back the veggie sellers and get them off my case.'_

As soon as his hands made contact with the sides of the box, the eye of the creature flashed red briefly and the chest let out a sound like air being released.

Naruto yelped in surprise, dropped the box back in the sand, and jumped back.

**Click**

'_Did it just unlock itself?,' _he thought with a frown before slowly moving back towards it. Carefully placing his hand on the lid, Naruto slowly lifted the top, ignoring the accompanying creak of the lid and gust of wind that usually signified bad omen in the ghost stories that the other children have told him.

There, resting in what appeared to be a red velvet lining was what appeared to be a dark iron key.

It was about as long as the width of a grown man's hand and so dark that it appeared almost black. The end didn't look like anything that could possibly unlock any doors Naruto had ever seen. In fact, it somewhat resembled the profile view of a horse/dolphin hybrid creature with its mouth open and its teeth bared.

The handle was a flat oval shape that had "V" carved into the metal.

His eyebrows knit at the unusual item. _'That's it? A key? Where's the treasure?'_

Lifting the lid a little higher to see if he'd missed something, Naruto found an inscription written into the inside of the top.

**A great change will soon fall onto this world. Whether it is good or bad will be decided by you.**

'_Me?' _his raised one eyebrow in question. It seemed a little farfetched to assume something like that of a nine year old.

**I maintain balance between the nine gates and have been tasked with finding the next Primordial Spirit Mage. Unite me with my brothers and sisters, though they shall not come willingly, and together we shall battle together through the onslaught. **

**What you hold is the key to my gate. Say my incantation, mage, and bring me forth.**

Naruto lifted the key from the box and examined it carefully. _'Primordial Spirit? Is it like Celestial Spirits?'_ he questioned, remembering a brief description from one of the scrolls he'd passed over in the archives.

Shrugging to himself and gathering his energy into the key, he read the next line out loud.

"Hirake! Gobi no Tobira! Kokuo!" (Open! Gate of the Five Tail! Kokuo!)

**Ding dong…**

* * *

**AN: Well I hoped you liked it. This is my first story ever so I could really use the reviews/encouragement to keep it going. And yes, just like in Celestial Spirit Magic, Primordial will have its own set of rules that the summoner must abide by.**


	2. Chapter 1: Screwed Up Guild? Sign Me Up!

**Disclaimer: Fairy Tail and Naruto are works of their respective creators. I do not own or gain profit from this story.**

**altajir95: I do have a purpose for Shinju in mind, but considering how powerful he is compared to the other nine bijuu I've decided to leave him be until further in the story. You're my first non-guest reviewer s to you =D**

**Rave Rose of Twilight: Thanks for reviewer. I hope I can inspire you. I started this story mostly cuz I couldn't find anything like this. Seeing you make something would really make my day =)**

**username94: Thank you for your extensive review. Lol! I really took into consideration your comment regarding length and this chapter is quite a bit longer than the prologue, about 3616 I think, thought I edited so it may be more or less. 4500 words was a bit much for me to handle, but I will probably get to that point one day. I'm sorry you don't enjoy Naruto's fights done by others but I hope you keep reading. Your review was the most helpful by far.**

**SinOfDisaster: I think this chapter gives a slight hint as to how Naruto obtains his keys. Its vague, but it's there.**

**Over a thousand views, nearly 100 followers and favorites each, and only twenty something reviews…hmm…interesting .**

* * *

**Chapter 1: Screwed Up Guild? Sign Me Up!**

Timeskip 11 years:

A young man, in his late teenage years, walked down the mid morning streets of Magnolia as the streets began to bustle with the day's activities. Children playing in the streets, people haggling with the merchants for lower prices on their wares and produce. All in all, it seemed like a perfectly normal and peaceful town.

Except for the three person battle that seemed to be underway atop one of the buildings.

"Loke!"

"You joining the Battle of Fairy Tail? Huh?!"

"I won't allow you to hurt Lucy, my owner, no matter what!"

Glancing up at the yelling, Naruto saw what appeared to be a blonde woman and an orange haired man in a suit doing battle with a knight cosplayer with his tongue sticking out and…were those dolls?

Eyes widening as said dolls began to pummel the girl, which he assumed was named Lucy as she was the only girl. He looked around to find that none of the civilians down below were paying any mind to what seemed to be a rather violent battle just above them.

Zipping up his orange jacket over his black t-shirt from the slight morning chill, Naruto proceeded to gently tapped an elderly man holding groceries that was passing by him.

"Shouldn't we stop them?" he asked, pointing at the three fighters and watched as the girl cracked her whip at the masked guy.

Glancing up at where he was pointing, the man just chuckled. "Haha," he laughed good naturedly, "that's just Fairy Tail. They're always fighting all over town. It's practically a routine."

"Yeah, but," the orange haired man and Lucy were both shielding their eyes and being assaulted by the dolls, "it just looks a little…excessive. I should probably cut in."

Ouch! That one looked like it hurt.

Naruto moved slightly towards the building they were standing on.

The man waved him off, "Just let them be. A lot of their members are young and energetic. I've lived near their guild for years and I can't tell you a day where I haven't heard some loud explosion or yelling from their guild hall. Besides, we got a parade comin' up real soon. They're probably just practicing for one of their shows. Look, they've even setup fireworks in the sky."

The man pointed towards the floating orbs that encircled the town.

Naruto frowned, still a little hesitant. "Well if you're sure," he stated before continuing, "Hey, Ojii-san, speaking of guild hall, can you direct me towards it?"

"You lookin' to join, kid?"

"Yep!" Naruto puffed up and grinned, "Gonna be the best mage they've ever had! Dattebayo!" He threw a thumbs up for effect.

**BOOM!**

Taking a look back up at the rooftop fight he found the orange haired man with his hand straight up in the air casting what Naruto thought was some kind of light magic made to spell out a message.

Squinting slightly to read the message, he mouthed 'I Love…Lucy?'  
_(AN: A DesiLu Production. Man, I hope people get this reference .)_

Taking that rather blatant declaration as of love as a sign that the battle really was an everyday occurrence, Naruto continued, "So yeah, can you tell me how to get to the Fairy Tail guild?"

"Head straight down this street and make a left at the fountain," the man said, pointing behind him, "the guild building is near the center of town and is pretty big, so you can't miss it. If you know what their guild symbol looks like then that should help, its right at their front door."

"Yosh! Thanks Oji-san," Naruto said with a salute and then began briskly walking down the path. A slight clink of what sounded like metal chains…or keys…as he takes his steps.

* * *

Deciding to join a guild had been a recent development for Naruto, in fact, he may not have even thought to join one had he not come across one of the latest issues of Sorcerer Magazine during his travels.

**_Flashback_**

_He had been sitting at a newly renovated restaurant in Hargeon Town, called S-Class Noodles, which claimed to have the best handmade ramen noodles in Fiore. Apparently some fire mage hard destroyed a large section of their town and had run off before they caught him, hence the renovation. _

_What was the mage's name? Notso Dragqueen? Nasty Drag Eel?_

_Meh…whatever._

_Naruto had been enjoying his third bowl of pork ramen when he overheard two teenage girls gasp as they poured over what appeared to be a glossy magazine._

"_Oh my god!" one of the girls exclaimed, "So Phantom Lord's been disbanded?"_

"_Yeah. I heard they attacked first though. Fairy Tail had to rebuild their entire guild and stuff."_

"_Wow…who'd be stupid enough to pick a fight with a guild like them? They've been the tops for years."_

"_Like totally!," the second girl replied, "O..M…G…check out this new photo spread of Mermai-"_

_He tuned out at this point. It wasn't much to go on, but their conversation had piqued his interest. Interguild wars between legal guilds were a big no-no in the Magic Council's books. This was probably a juicy story._

_"Onee-san," Naruto called to his waitress, "Can a get a bowl of the seafood ramen special? And make the broth miso this time."_

_The waitress quirked an eye at his fourth order before nodding to confirm that she'd heard him. As she went to place his order, he got up and picked up the magazine that the two girls had left behind and began to read._

_'Wow…' he thought, 'all that to avenge and protect their friends?' He took a glance at the picture of Phantom Lord's guild in ruins, 'Man, Fairy Tail really did a number on those guys.'_

_*Perhaps it is time for you to consider having companions as you search for our other siblings* echoed a voice in his mind._

_Naruto glanced down to his chest where he knew his newest summons had just spoken to him through one of the keys hanging around his neck. He generally preferred to have them hidden under his clothes so nobody could just grab them._

_They rarely spoke to him unless summoned, but usually it was a guiding message to where the other beasts may lie and even that could take a significantly long time. His best course of action was typically to travel around until one of his Spirits was within distance to sense another. _

_He winced at the memory of doing battle in order to attain this particular summons. His abdomen was still heavily bandaged from deep cuts in order to attain his third key. Naruto had needed to be sedated as a medic stitched him back up._

_It was a slow process finding clues to the whereabouts of the Primordial Spirit Keys and even then, he'd still have to pass their individual trials before they would give him their names in order to summon them._

_Perhaps joining a guild would help him. A wider range of job opportunities tended to send mages to many parts of the country, he may as well get paid as he travels, doing odd jobs as an independent mage was difficult, and perhaps even some of his guild mates could keep an eye out for rumors about his Spirits._

_Naruto's nose twitched and his train of thought was broken as the smell of shrimp swimming in broth hit his knows._

_Smiling and bouncing on his seat like a giddy schoolboy for the weekend, he picked up his chopsticks and clapped his hands together._

_"__Itadakimasu!"_**  
**  
**_End Flashback_**

Naruto snapped back to the present upon realizing that he'd actually walked a few steps beyond his destination. Doubling back, he took a moment to admire the guilds stone archway, large stature, and open air balconies.

'_Man,' _he thought, '_they must have some pretty awesome mages to be able to afford a place this fancy.'_

He moved to enter the front gate when-

**BAM!**

Naruto was trampled by two people screaming at the top of their lungs as they hurried out of the gate. Neither bothering to slow down as he tried to enter.

"Laxus!" yelled the one whose head looked like cotton candy.

"Bastard! I'm gonna be the one takin' him down!" yelled the other.

Laying on his back with shoe prints covering him from head to toe, a shocked Naruto took a few moments before jumping up and yelling after the two idiots that had run him over.

"Hey assholes! Get back here so I can kick your ass!" But both were too far to hear him at this point. He moved to chase after them, but he heard someone call from behind him.

"Excuse me," said a female voice, "Can I help you?"

Turning around, Naruto found himself looking at a girl with blue hair tied up in a high ponytail, wearing an orange dress, and arm sleeves. The top of her head just reached his chest.

"Yo," he exclaimed, slapping a smile on his face and ignoring his bruised ribs, "Is this the Fairy Tail guild? A townsperson sent me to spot."

"Um, yes it is," she replied, "My name is Levy. Can I help you with something?" She didn't look all that happy; in fact, from the look on her face Naruto could tell she was extremely worried about something.

Toning down the enthusiasm a bit, "Yeah. Is the guild master here? I want to talk to him about joining the guild. The name's Naruto by the way."

Levy bit her lip as if she were considering something. This wasn't the best time to be accepting a new member into the guild, but it really wasn't keeping with guild policy to turn away a potential member. Even if it were, it would have to either be Mirajane or Master Makarov making the final decision.

Seeing the conflicting look on the girl's face, Naruto began to feel disheartened.

'_Damn…maybe they don't want me. You'd think I'd be used to it,' _he thought, bitterly recalling the orphanage.

"Look, I understand if you guys have enough members. I'll just-"

"No!" she cut off, "It's not that. We're just…well, I'll take you to see the Master. If he's well enough then maybe we can do something."

'_Well enough? That can't be good.'_

'_We need all the help we can get right now,' _Levy thought as she turned and gestured for him to follow, '_I just hope he isn't scared off by how screwed up our members are right now.'_

* * *

Walking up the steps had been odd to say the least. It was a large building without a single person in sight other than the girl leading him, their steps echoed throughout the building. It was kind of weird.

_'Where are all the people?' _thought Naruto, '_For a guild that's considered the strongest in Fiore they sure don't have a lot of members."_

Stifling a small gasp, he eyed Levy suspiciously as she guided. _'What if she's the only member?! What if she's some kind of triple S-class mage?! WHAT IF SHE KILLED THE OTHER MEMBERS?!'_

He mentally pictured a giant fire breathing Levy that was big enough to destroy the town. Cackling with evil gusto as the town burned from behind her. BWAH HA HA HA!

He shook his head to get the ridiculous thought out of his mind. _'Oh please. That's ridiculous. Besides, she's wearing orange. That already means she's awesome,' _Naruto thought, before staring intently at the back of the girls head, _'Although…those two guys that ran me over sure left in a hurry.'_

Before he could consider leaving a clone in his place and quietly sneaking out, they reached the end of the hallway she'd been leading him down.

"Master Makarov is inside," she said and gently pushed the wooden doors open.

Inside were two people lying in separate beds. The first one Naruto had noticed was a woman with green hair, dressed somewhat like a cowgirl. She looked like she'd been burned, but her breathing was deep and even so it seemed as though she was just resting.

The next person in the other bed, however, didn't appear so well. He was an elderly man that looked as though he'd barely go higher than Naruto's knees, but unlike the green haired woman he looked pale and sickly despite having no external injuries.

Levy sat down in the chair next to the man's bed.

"Master?" she said quietly, placing a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to rouse him, "Master? It's Levy."

Eyes slowly opening, Makarov gazed at her and cracked a small smile. She smiled back and gently wiped the sweat from his brow with a towel on the side table.

"I'm sorry for disturbing your sleep, but someone came looking for membership," Levy said as she gestured towards Naruto, " But with everything happening right now I didn't know what to do."

Makarov turned to look at Naruto. "So, a new brat wants to join the guild, huh?" His was voice strong despite his appearance.

"Umm..yes, sir."

"Well I'm sorry to say this, but you've come at a bad time. Our family is fighting amongst themselves right now." Makarov coughed several times before relaxing back into the bed and continuing, "We are at war amongst ourselves." His eyes glazed, clearly saddened by this.

Levy filled him in on what's been happening in the guild.

Apparently a team in the guild called the Thunder God Tribe had decided to hold a contest in the guild to decide who stays and who goes. According to their leader and Makarov's own grandson, Laxus, it was high time they weeded out the weak from their guild and bring forth a new age of strength for Fairy Tail.

As she continued to tell her story, Levy's eyes began to fill with tears as she described the lightning lacrima in the sky, how Bisca in the next bed over had been electrocuted, and how the Thunder Palace spell was threatening the lives of the townspeople that had loved their guild.

Naruto's fists began to ball as she continued. Her eyes openly weeping now and Makarov staring up at the ceiling in a stern gaze as she described how the names of people in the guild were being checked off a list and she couldn't tell if any of them were just injured or possibly dead.

"I'm sorry," she said as silent tears streamed down her face.

Levy sniffed her knows before continuing. "We're not in the best position to accept new members right now. Maybe afterwards, but I'd understand if you didn't want to joi-"

"Give me the stamp."

She wiped her eyes and looked at him. "What?"

"I said give me the stamp."

Naruto's eyes held hers. She almost felt scared at the intensity that he looked at her with. Makarov was quietly looking at him, clearly trying to fight his illness.

"But we-"

"I've lived my entire life alone and just hoping to one day to find a family to call my own and this bastard, Tampax-"

"Laxus," Maxarov corrected.

"Laxus thinks that he can pick and choose who gets to stay because he thinks they're weak?!" Naruto's voice was angry and very close to yelling.

"I'm going to kick this guys ass! He attacks his own guildmates, he belittles his own grandfather, and he threatens the lives of the people he grew up with. I can't stand for it! I'd kill for a guild that treated me as family and cared about me as more than a guild member and this Laxus thinks it's okay to just throw that away?! Now give me the damn stamp so I can join this fight and kick this jackass tribes' ass!"

Makarov's eyes watered slightly. Moved at how a stranger that he'd only met a few minutes ago would care so much about people he'd never met. This was the kind of person he wanted as one of his children.

Levy stared at him, mouth slightly agape. "Naru…to…" she muttered. She'd only met a handful of people with the same intensity in their eyes that Naruto currently hand.

Laxus…Erza…Natsu…

All powerful in their own right and right now she was looking at someone that radiated that same strength.

She'd never seen him fight, hell, she didn't even know what kind of magic he used, but she just knew in her gut that he was a deciding factor for the Battle of Fairy Tail.

"Give him the stamp Levy-chan."

She turned to face Makarov, who was smiling at Naruto despite how tired who looked.

Quickly standing up, she smiled at Naruto before turning back to the guild master.

"Hai!"

* * *

Levy spoke to Naruto as they hurried down the steps to retrieve the guild stamp.

"I've deciphered Freed's runes, he's the one that put the barrier around the guild earlier. As soon as we place the guild stamp on you then your name should appear on the battle roster. Laxus will probably be angry about this. Bringing in a newcomer in the middle of the battle will make him think we're calling in reinforcements."

"Got it," he said, "Do you how I'll find this Laxus guy?"

"I really don't have any idea," she said as she rummaged behind the bar and pulled out the guild stamp, "The only thing I can think of is to follow the blasts of magic or sound of explosions. With all the guild members out there, someone's bound to find him."

"Alright," Levy moved in front of him and raised the stamp, "What color and where do you want the stamp?"

"Where do most guild members put their marks?" Naruto asked.

"It's really up to you, but typically people try to put it where nobody else already has it, but nobody would care if you did put it in a similar location."

"Oh. Orange please." He turned around, unbuckled his belt, and started to pull his pants down.

Levy hit him on the back of the head with the stamp's handle….hard.

"NOT THERE!"

Laughing and rubbing the growing bruise on his head, he rebuckled his belt and turned around. "Haha! Just trying to lighten the mood. I was ony kidding."

Unzipping his jacket and lifting up his shirt, he pointed to his stomach, just above his naval.

"How about he- OOF!"

She'd shoved the stamp where he was pointing at with a lot of force.

"We've already got one stripper in the guild, we don't need another!" Levy yelled, blushing slightly. From annoyance or embarrassment, he couldn't tell.

Deciding to inquire about the guild stripper at another time, he zipped his jacket back up and started towards the door. _'Man, I hope it's a real stripper. Coolest guild ever if that were the case.'_

Naruto stepped outside and scanned the horizons, looking for any sign of battle. Close to the mountains, just where the town ended Naruto could barely make out two figures in the sky. They both had dark wings and seemed to be throwing dark spell after dark spell after each other.

_'Good a place to start as any I suppose,' _he thought.

He pulled out a black key from beneath his shirt with the symbol "V" etched into it.

"You're a Celestial Spirit Mage?"

Naruto turned around to find that Levy had followed him out and was eyeing the key in his hand.

"Nope!" he said cheerfully, as he pointed the key before him, "I'm a Primordial Spirit Mage."

She gave him a confused look as she'd never read anything on this type of magic before.

He'd done this a hundred times at this point. The first time he'd pushed as much magic as he could and his summons ended up being the size of a mid-sized house. Kokuo had nearly flattened him. But practice makes perfect.

"Hirake! Gobi no Tobira! Kokuo!" (Open! Gate of the Five Tail! Kokuo!)

**DING DONG**

A dark red magic circle appeared in front of him with the center rotating around his key.

Before Levy even had time to blink, a white horse-like creature burst forth out of the circle. Except it wasn't like any horse she'd ever seen before. Its mouth was slightly flatter and larger, similar to that of a dolphin's head. There were two long horns that protruded from the back of its head with two shorter ones just to the front of the longer ones and its hooves and horns were a light brown. Its shoulder was just below Naruto's height, big enough to ride on.

It briefly glanced at Levy and she saw its blue-green eyes were surrounded by red markings and shone with intelligence. This was no mere animal.

It snorted what appeared to be steam before turning to Naruto.

"You summoned me, Naruto-sama?" it spoke in a mid-range male voice.

"I need you to take me as fast as you can to where those two people are fighting," Naruto replied, pointing off in the direction where one of the flying people just dropkicked the other into the ground.

"As you wish." It bent its forelegs slightly and Naruto hopped on and grabbed its back horns to hold onto.

He glanced back down and Levy before grinning and giving her a thumbs up.

"Just leave it to me! I won't let you guys down! Dattebayo!"

And with that, steam gathered at the creature's hooves before it burst at a top speed that knocked her back.

Sitting on the ground where she'd just fallen, her hair disheveled, and dust covering her from head to toe, Levy couldn't do anything but gape at where Naruto had just been a second ago.

'_Fast…' _she thought, _'maybe faster than Jet. What was that thing?'_

* * *

**AN: I figure most of you are dying to know which other keys Naruto's obtained. Don't worry, you'll definitely see one of them in the next chapter.  
I'm also aware that some questions remain unanswered.  
-How does he obtain the keys?  
-What did he do to get the other two he has know?  
-Pairings?  
Relax. I've got plans for all of these, and more than many of you wont expect ;)  
If I just revealed everything then this is just a really long summary right?  
Regarding the timeskip, my intent has always been to merge Naruto into the Fairy Tail storyline than him gallivanting on his own for a few years, just in case anyone was wondering. **


	3. Chapter 2: Demons and Lacrima

**Disclaimer: Fairy Tail and Naruto are works of their respective creators. I do not own or gain profit from this story.**

**Man I'm tired. This chapter is significantly longer than the first some. Close to 5000 words this time. I really hope you enjoy, but first I'll answer some ****FAQ's**** that I've been getting.**

**How is Primordial summoning different from Celestial?****  
-I can't answer that quite yet. It'd be a spoiler, but this chapter has a hint as to ONE of the way it's different, it differs in another respect that I plan to reveal later on. It's only like 1 sentence though, so read carefully.**

**Pairings?****  
-I have an idea for pairings already, but it won't happen unless I feel like it's the right time. There are currently two prospective love interests, but I'm not naming names until I decide.**

**Does Naruto have other magic?****  
-Yes. In the Prologue I stated that he can still create clones. This is iconic to Naruto, so I wanted to maintain it. However, it is not his main magic, it's more like a supporting ability, like Erza's telekinesis or Lucy's whip. So don't expect me to spam out hundreds of clones.**

**How does he obtain his keys?****  
-Chapter 1 gives a hint during the flashback and you'll see it happen when I create a chapter for him to obtain another one.**

**Important: Somebody pointed out some typos in past chapters. I don't mind be corrected, but please help me by telling me where it occurred so I don't need to scan through pages looking for obscure typos I may miss.  
**

* * *

**Chapter 2: Demons and Lacrima**

'_Faster, Kokuo!' _Naruto thought, _'Faster!"_

Channeling his magic through his hands into Kokuo's horn, their speed picked up as they zoomed through the town at a blurred speed. The Gobi's five tails trailing after it like cape.

Every once in a while he would spot people with the guild stamp laying on the ground, clearly having just fought one another in an attempt to be one of the few that Laxus would allow to remain in the guild.

Naruto grimaced. _'How could they just turn on each other like that?'_

Looking up at the sky he saw the spinning lightning lacrima that could potentially destroy the town and his eyes darkened. _'Then again, it's not like this Laxus guy gave them much of a choice. He's holding everyone in this town hostage.'_

The sound of the two fighters in the sky we're getting closer as he closed in on what appeared to be a channel that ran through the town. They dropped in and began running alongside the riverbed.

Looking over Kokuo's horns, Naruto saw what appeared to be a woman with long brown hair attempting to gently drag another woman, but with short blue and clearly unconscious, up the side hill to the top of a destroyed bridge.

"Slow down," he commanded as they neared the bridge.

Looking up to see what she thought was a monster approaching, the brown haired woman let go of her friend and pulled out what appeared to be three glowing cards from the inside of her jacket. It didn't really take an expert to figure that they weren't playing cards.

As they slowed to a trot Naruto held up his hands in a sign of surrender so that she could see he was unarmed.

"Woah, woah!" he exclaimed, as they came to a stop, "I'm not here to fight." She didn't lower her arm, ready to attack if necessary.

Naruto slowly got off his summon and continued to keep his arms raised. "My name is Naruto, I just joined the guild and I came to help. Levy and Master Makarov sent me."

He lowered one hand to lift up his jacket and shirt to reveal his guild stamp to her. The glow in her cards dimmed slightly, indicating she was drawing magic out of them.

Legal Guild stamps could not be worn by non-guild members. It was considered to be high treason, at least in Fiore, because of the amount of income guilds tended to circulate for the country. Not many would be willing to face the punishment as well as the lifelong ostracization by the public. People loved their town guilds and to copy their symbol was considered taboo.

Seriously doubting this guy was a part of the Thunder God Tribe due to how new he was, she let out a long sign and placed the cards back into her jacket.

_'I seriously doubt he's involved with the Thunder God Tribe. I've never seen him before.' _Cana thought, _'Laxus wouldn't let just anybody join him on this stupid crusade, especially someone he just met.' _

Noticing that he still hand one hand holding up his shirt and the other in the air, she motioned for him to relax.

"I'm sorry," she said, "We're clearly going through some stuff right now. The name's Cana by the way."

"Nice to meet you. Levy already filled me in on what's happening," Naruto replied, looking down at her feet he pointed at the unconscious woman, he asked "What happened to her?"

"Freed," Cana spat out, "He trapped us in a rune spell where we'd only be able to escape if one of us knocked the other out. Juvia sacrificed herself because she didn't want to hurt me or make me have to choose."

He remembered that Levy had said Freed was a member of Laxus' team.

Pointing at the sky, Cana continued, "She attacked a lacrima to knock herself out."

Looking down at Juvia, Naruto couldn't help but feel an extreme sense of respect for this woman. _'She'd risk herself rather than hurt a friend…I hope the rest of this guild is filled with people like that.'_

"Where were you planning to bring her? Kokuo can help," he said, gesturing towards Kokuo who had been watching patiently.

Knowing that this was not the time to be asking what that creature was, Thunder Palace was going to strike in a matter of minutes, she pointed up at the broken bridge. "I have another friend up there, Elfman. He was being beaten by Freed pretty badly before his sister saved him and started to battle Freed herself."

The ground shook from what sounded like a very close battle somewhere. "I'm guessing that had something to do with their fight."

Cana nodded.

"I'll help you get her up there."

Together, they gently placed Juvia on Kokuo's back and got her up to the top of the bridge where, as Cana had indicated, Elfman was lying unconscious.

"They need medical treatment now," she said, "especially Juvia, she was in her water form when she initially got electrocuted so I'm pretty sure she took a lot more damage than what would normally have happened."

Naruto lifted Juvia and placed her down next to Elfman.

"I think we can help with that," he said, Naruto motioned for Kokuo to stand next to him facing the two unconscious victims. Patting his beast on the neck, they made eye contact.

"Naruto-sama?"

Cana jumped slightly, no knowing the creature could speak.

He nodded. "Do your stuff."

Lowering his horned head so that he was closer to Juvia and Elfman, he opened his mouth and a gentle mist poured out and washed over them.

Cana stared. "What is it…I mean he…doing?"

"Healing them," Naruto answered.

"Really? He can do that?" Healing magic wasn't necessarily difficult, but since it was a primarily support magic most mages rarely used it on the off chance they took solo missions. Usually it was practiced by medics and most mages would make do with first aid until they found help.

"Well, yes and no," he said, "Technically Kokuo's ability deals with enhancement. The steam he's emitting is technically heated magic. Depending on how much magic I give to him, he can use the mist to enhance our physical capabilities beyond our limits."

Cana listened intently. She'd never heard of magic like this before and seemed extremely useful to have in group missions.

Naruto continued. "Strength, speed, or in this case, their ability to recover from injury."

If anyone took a closer look at the sleeping pair, they would see the burns and cuts quickly fading. Out of curiosity, Cana waved her hand through the steam and found it refreshing, the tension just leaving her hand.

"Ugh…"

Juvia and Elfman both stirred and their eyes slowly flickered open, blinking for the daylight. Naruto maybe a gesture with a key in his hand and Kokuo stopped exhaling steam, nodded at his summoner, and faded in shimmering lights like a mirage.

Helping Elfman to his feet, as Cana helped Juvia, Naruto threw the larger man's arm over his shoulder to help support him.

Grunting as the help, Elfman eyed Naruto, "Who are you?"

"That's Naruto," Cana answered before Naruto could, "He's new. And he healed you and Juvia."

Grinning down at Naruto, Elfman gave him a thumbs up. "Thanks! You're a man!"

"Uh…thanks?" _'Was that a compliment or a statement?'_

"Juvia is also thankful," Juvia said as she gestured for Cana to let go in an attempt to stand on her own.

"Where's Nee-chan?" Elfman asked, turning to Cana, "The last thing I remember is Freed and everything went black."

"Mirajane attacked Freed before he killed you," she replied. Seeing Elfman's confused look she continued, "I don't know how, but she got her powers back. She watched Freed attacking you and went ballistic. I haven't seen it in a while, but I'm pretty sure I saw a Full Body Takeover of Satan Soul."

"What?!" the large man yelled, "What if she loses control?! Nee-chan hasn't transformed ever since what happened to Lisanna!"

_'Who's Lisanna?' _thought Naruto and Juvia.

"Well what do you want me to do about it?" Cana grimaced, "Neither of us can take her when she's in that form. It's too strong."

"We can't let her kill Freed," Elfman said, "She'd never be able to live with herself if she does. It's not who she is anymore."

"Ummm….excuse me," Naruto cut in, "But isn't Freed the guy that basically tried to maim all three of you?"

Juvia frowned, "He is correct. I do not wish for more violence in the guild, but this man had hurt us and is associated with the man that hurt Gray-sama!"

"You two are new to the guild so I can understand your anger," Cana said, "But that's not how Fairy Tail works. Yes they hurt us, but we don't exact revenge. We just need to stop them. Our first priority is to save the town before Laxus' Thunder Palace spell activates. What happens to them after will be Master's decision."

'_Assuming he'll make it_,' Naruto thought with a frown, recalling the fragile man laying in bed.

"FREED!"

The four of them jumped and turned around to see two demonic beings burst from what looks like an underground cave. The first was a male with long green hair with his upper body covered in a dark fur, two large horns protruding from his head, and dark purple runes on his back as wings. _'Freed.' _

The second was female, and whom Naruto assumed was Mirajane judging from the similar hair color to Elfman. She currently had a large lizard like tail, clawed hands, and leathery bat wings.

They watched as they threw punches, spells and kicks at each other.

"Darkness Flash Bomb!" A pulse of dark magic erupted from Freed's hand and impacted Mirajane so hard that she fell out of the sky and tumbled into the waters below.

A moment of silence as everyone stared into the water, searching for Mirajane. It wasn't long before she burst from the depths, spinning and gathering a torrent of water around her as she flew higher. The amount of magic she was releasing was palpable.

"Woah…" Naruto said aloud.

"Yeah…" Cana responded, staring as well "She's pretty powerful. Before she retired people use to call her The Demon Mirajane."

"No, not that," he replied cocking his head as he watched the fight, "Check out that neckline. Damn…If she doesn't kill him with her fists then I'm pretty sure that outfit she's wearing will."

Cana and Juvia gave him annoyed stares. _'Perv…' _they both thought.

It was true though, Mirajane's Satan Soul outfit didn't leave much to the imagination.

"That's my sister," Elfman said, glaring a little at Naruto.

"And I'm not her brother," Naruto replied, grinning up at Elfman.

"Evil Explosion!"

Mirajane launched the water around her at Freed, knocking him further up into the sky before flying immediately after and giving him a head butt. Naruto didn't know either of them well enough to gauge how powerful they really were, but judging from what he was watching, Freed was getting his ass well and thoroughly kicked.

Before he could recover, Mirajane's magic circle appeared in front of her as she began casting. Naruto and the others can feel the amount of force being gathered between her two hands and braced themselves closer to the ground. A dark ball of energy formed in her palms, empty and void-like.

"We need to stop her!" yelled Cana, "She's going to kill him!"

"Soul Extinction!"

The She-Devil did not disappoint. The spell burst from her hands and impacted into Freed's chest before exploded in a spherical ball of energy that could probably be seen all over town. Naruto could feel the heat from the spell as the backlash washed over them.

"Auuuugh!" Freed yelled as his demonic form fell and he impacted with the ground.

"Nee-chan's lost control to the demon form!" yelled Elfman, "If we don't stop her now she could kill Freed and maybe even us if she doesn't snap out of it!" His panic was evident to everyone. Clearly losing control during a Take Over was personal topic for him.

Mirajane's eyes were glowing red and her clawed hands were flexing. She landed on the ground, screamed in rage, and launched towards Freed with her fist pulled back. Without his Dark Ecriture: Darkness form in effect, Freed was going to be mush.

She was probably forty feet from impact.

Thirty…

Twenty…

Ten…

"Hirake! Sanbi no Tobira! Isobu!" (Open! Gate of the Three Tail! Isobu!)

**DING DONG!**

A shimmering being began to appear before Naruto, similar to how Kokuo had disappeared, before it vanished abruptly only to reappear directly in between Freed and Mirajane. Her fist impacted and a cloud of dust rose up, obscuring the view of what happened.

Naruto immediately felt a large portion of his energy drain as his summons took his magic in order to reinforce itself for the impact.

'_Phew,' _he thought as he let out a breath, '_That felt like a building dropped on me.'_

As the dust began to settle, Cana and Juvia gasped to see that a large ball, about three times Naruto's height, with spikes and the same color as stone had taken the force of the punch.

Mirajane was breathing hard as her fist remained in contact with the ball. The red glow in her eyes began to fade and she slowly lowered her arm. She didn't look particularly focused, but it was clear she had regained control over herself.

Naruto lifted a black key with the symbol "III" etched into the handle and waved it. The summons slowly faded from view so that Freed and Mirajane were now face to face.

Everyone watched as Mirajane's magic slowly faded in a bright pink light and she knelt down on the floor. Her white hair fell down her back and her outfit shifted to that of a simple red dress.

"What are you doing..?!" Freed yelled at Mirajane, watching as she powered down. She looked at him with sad eyes, clearly close to crying.

Naruto and the others ran down closer, but remained at a distance.

"This kind of fight is meaningless…" Mirajane replied quietly.

"Is this the arrogance of the victor, Mirajane?" Freed spat out as he lay on the ground, unable to move. "Just finish me off!"

Naruto leaned slightly over to Cana and whisper. "They're not even going to question a magic boulder appearing between them?"

Cana elbowed him in the stomach slightly. "'Shh…I'm trying to listen."

"We're comrades…members of the same guild…" Mirajane continued, "We laugh together…have fun together…walk together…"

"Be quiet!" Freed yelled, distressed that she no longer seemed angry at him, "Laxus is my only comrade!"

"You know that's not true. Freed, you've known it for a long time."

His gaze fell to the people behind Mirajane. Cana, Elfman, Juvia, and a blond stranger. None looked at him with anger or hatred, in fact, they looked saddened…pitying even.

"I don't think it's wrong to depend on one person, but you're surrounded by so many other people to," she looked over her shoulder, gaze landing on Juvia then Naruto, and gave a small smile, "And from the looks of it, more and more people every day."

Freed's eyes began to water and he attempted to fight the tears as Mirjane continued to speak.

"People are always connected with other people…." She took his hand in both of hers, "See? If you just reach out…you'll find them right there."

No longer looking down at him sadly, her she smiled down at his injured form with compassion. "Once a person realizes it's lonely being alone, they grow to be kind. You've come to realize that…"

This time Freed openly wept and he placed his free hand over his face. "I never wanted to do this," he said."

"I know," she replied, smiling down at him even more, "Next year, let's enjoy the harvest festival parade together, okay?"

Freed continued to weep as Mirajane continued to hold his hand.

"Nee-chan…" said Elfman

"She's really something…" Cana said, wiping her eyes as Juvia smiled next to her.

'_You all are…'_ thought Naruto as he watched a level of forgiveness that was beyond words.

* * *

Naruto clutched his head as various voices began speaking in his mind and arguing with one another.

Freed had requested to be left where he lay while he gathered his bearings. He said that he had much to think about. Mirajane had smiled at him and nodded, stating she understood.

He, Cana, Juvia, Elfman, and Mirajane had reentered the town and were heading towards the guild in hopes that maybe somebody had found Laxus' whereabouts when somebody named Warren and Gray had begun contacting the overall guild.

People had started communicating and everything had initially been going well, mostly just reassuring one another about each other's well being. But then the arguing began.

"_Alzack! Can you hear me?"_

"_I can hear you. I'm s-sorry about before."_

"Sorry won't cut it! You attacked me off guard like a coward…!"

"Same for you Wakaba!"

"Not even Laki can forgive you!"

Naruto frowned and looked at his group. Mirajane looked worried and looked like she wanted to say something but didn't know how. Despite being forced into the fight by circumstances, apparently many of them were angry at one another nonetheless.

The arguing just escalated even when somebody pointed out that the lacrima needed to be destroyed and soon. Fingers pointed, accusations, and snide remarks were thrown all over.

_"Listen, everyone!"_ A female voice cut through the argument and everyone quieted down.

"Lucy…" Naruto heard Cana murmur aloud. He recalled a girl getting beaten up by a pack of dolls.

"_This is not the time for arguing! The townspeople will be in danger if we don't do something!"_ Lucy's voice in his head spoke with desperation. _"We all have to work together to protect Magnolia! Together we can overcome any adversity! I've only joined Fairy Tail recently, but I'm confident I love this guild as much as anyone!"_

Naruto decided to chime in at this point. _"Are you all kidding me?!"_

His entire group looked at him, surprised he had joined the conversation.

"_Who was that?"_

"Anyone recognize that voice?"

He ignored the questions and continued. _"I've only been this guild for a little over an hour and the things I have seen your members do for each other is amazing and yet you all just stand here and argue like children."_

_"I met a woman that chose to risk her own life rather than hurt a friend,"_ Naruto gazed at Juvia, who blushed at the attention.

"_Another that fought a man that probably would have killed her brother had she not stepped in. She had every right to destroy him, but instead chose to forgive him because he was her comrade,"_ he shifted his eyes over to Mirajane. She smiled at him.

Naruto smiled back before turning back up to the sky and continuing. _"And now I hear a new member declaring her love for a guild that she'd just joined despite everything that is happening to it. Fairy Tail is amazing, and I don't understand how you could all just keep bickering with one another when you're guild…you're home…is on the line."_

He finished and felt a hand placed in his shoulder. It was Cana and she looked at him with a kind smile.

"I think you're going to fit right in," she said.

Elfman gave him a thumbs up. "You're the man, Naruto!"

"_Thank you…"_ he heard Lucy think.

"_Naruto,"_ it was Juvia who filled in the pause for Lucy.

_"Thank you, Naruto,"_ Lucy thought to everyone, her message was quivering, like she was crying, _"Please, let's all work together and protect our guild and our town!"_

"…_But if you can't do that, then I'll destroy all the lacrimas myself if I have to."_

_"Count me in!"_ responded Naruto, no hesitation whatsoever.

"_You guys going to let these newcomers say all these things and feel nothing,"_ Cana said aloud as well, but it echoed through their joined minds anyway. It didn't take long for the responses to come in.

_"They're not newcomer. They have more Fairy Tail in them than any of us!"_

"_Lucy and Naruto are right. Our bickering can wait for later!"_

"_Thank you Lucy. You cooled down everybody's jets."_

"_You guys ready to do this?!"_

Words of encouragement replaced the arguments from earlier as everyone revved up to attack the lacrimas, despite the electrocution they would suffer later.  
_  
"I'll take care of the two hundred to the north. The rest of you focus on the ones to the south!"_

"Umm…who was that last one?" Naruto asked.

"That was Erza," replied Mirajane, "She's the strongest female mage in the guild, so whenever Master isn't able she's usually the de facto leader."

"Is she insane? Two hundred lacrimas on her own?!"

"Don't worry about Erza, she's an S-class mage. She can handle herself," she responded, but Naruto didn't miss the fleeting look of worry before she turned away.

Looking up at the sky, he turned to face the north instead and pulled out the two of his keys. "Cana," Naruto called, his eyes still set on the lacrima he intended to take out before Erza to reduce her damage, "Levy told me about the body link magic. Can you explain something to me about it?"

"What about it?"

"When the body link activates, does the spell latch on and activate directly on us or does the spell attack us externally?"

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"When the shock happens, do we just feel the immediate shock or does a bolt of lightning strike us down?"

"Oh, well from what I saw with Bisca, the lightning looked like it came from directly above her. Why do you ask?"

"Got it," he said, not bother to answer her question. He moved himself close to center of where his new friends had positioned themselves.

Naruto reached into his jacket and pulled out two keys with "V" and "III" etched in it.

He briefly glanced down at the symbols. _'Five and Three…Totals eight. All good.'_

*Isobu. Take out as many of the lacrimas before a sword attacks it. A woman named Erza is trying to take out two hundred on her own, but we're going to offset as much damage as we can from her.*

*B-but, won't you take the damage in her place? It's your m-magic that's being expelled so the body link will go to you,* replied a male voice, it was deep, but sounded timid.

*Not if you can get a coral shield up on time. Surround the other people around me as well.*

Switching his attention over. *Kokuo, enhance Isobu's speed. The more he can take out the better.*

*Hai! Naruto-sama!*

"Hirake! Gobi no Tobira! Sanbi no Tobira! Kokuo to Isobu!" (Open! Gate of the Five Tail! Gates of the Three Tail! Kokuo and Isobu!)

**DING DONG!**

Two dark red magic circles appeared on either side of Naruto. To his left, Kokuo burst forth, and to his left was the round spiky ball, only this time its size was smaller, about the same height at Naruto this time.

Not even a moment later the ball uncurled itself to reveal a creature that resembled a brawny looking turtle. The shell on its back more closely resembled a crab shell and it had three large tails on the back that resembled shrimp tails. It was mostly gray but with a reddish-purple underbelly. The top of its head had a spiky helmet and its lower jaw was so large that it appeared to cover the bottom have of its face like a mask. It had one eye closed, but the other was opened to reveal a red eye that looked around curiously.

This being the first time the others had seen Isobu's uncurled form, they stared a little. Uncomfortable with the attention, Isobu retracted its head into his shell a little…that is until he saw Juvia and Naruto swore he could see a tinge of red underneath its hard shell.

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked.

"W-who's that?" asked Isobu, as he stared at Juvia, who was gazing at the sky, arm raised in preparation to fire at the lacrima she had chosen.

"Oh, that's Juvia."

Isobu gave a small sigh. "She smells like the ocean..." Naruto could swear he saw little hearts forming in Isobu's eye, but chose to ignore it. He thought of Juvia on a date in a romantic restaurant with a giant turtle as they shared spaghetti and shuddered at the creepy thought.

"Okay then…let's focus. You two ready?"

"H-hai." "Yes, Naruto-sama."

_"Fire!" _Commanded Erza through the mind link.

Having transformed into her Satan Soul Take Over, Mirajane yelled. "Demon Blast!"

Elfman, had transformed into what beast-like creature with claws, a dark brown pelt, green face and horns. With no distance spell, he tore a large column off a building and threw it with his immense strength.

"Explosion Cards!" Cana threw three glowing cards at her target.

Juvia threw he hand in a thrusting motion as a jet of water exploded from her palm. "Water Nebula!"

Naruto saw hundreds of swords fire into the sky, all going to a separate orb in the north.

"Now," he commanded. Kokuo immediately began breathing its steam magic on Isobu, who lowered his jaw and began to fire balls of water, each aimed at a different target, with the speed and accuracy of a machine gun.

Combined with the speed enhancement of Kokuo's steam the pulses of water quickly bypassed about seventy five of Erza's swords and impacted. Naruto watched as all the other spells flew up and destroyed the Thunder Palace spell with each destroyed orb.

Their destruction resulted in a display of sparkly light and smoke that resembled fireworks.

Naruto heard everyone in the mind link cheering and congratulating one another before a felt a small twinge of static electricity above him.

"Now Isobu!" he yelled.

The giant turtle responded by yelling, "Coral Palm!" and stomping his foot on the ground. Isobu's eye flashed red and a giant magic circle appeared below him and expanded on the ground until it covered where Mirajane, Elfman, Juvia, and Cana were standing.

They all jumped in surprise as a coral dome began to quickly form around them and seal at the top just as the first body link magic spell activated and flash of lightning came down to strike one of them down. They could hear the impact of the spell as it hit the outside wall of the coral.

**Boom! Boom! Boom!**

Naruto couldn't tell which lightning was meant for which person, though he knew that about seventy five of the strikes were intended for him, so he kept the dome raised.

Cana raised a card and it flared to life, lighting the dark inside of the dome.

"What is this?" she asked, touching the wall and feeling the heat that she was pretty sure was the result of the lightning.

Naruto patted Isobu on his shell. "Coral. Or more specifically magically enhanced coral. It basically a shield that can take various types of attacks as long as the amount of magic reinforcing it is stronger than the damage it takes."

"Amazing," Juvia smiled, looking down at Isobu.

The giant turtle retracted his head into its shell and shuffled one of its forelegs on the ground.

"Th-thank you…"

_"Ahhh!"_

"Ouch!"

"It hurts!"

Everyone in the dome grimaced as they could mentally hear their friends shout in pain. Naruto wished he could cover everyone, but he didn't even know where the others were and he couldn't develop a dome large enough or fast enough to cover the entire town.

Hearing the lightning stop striking the top of their shield, Naruto motioned at Isobu to lower the shield.

*Thank you. Both of you.* Naruto thought to Kokuo and Isobu.

Both his summons nodded as he waved their keys to dismiss them.

Glancing at his group, he smiled as he noticed none of them had been struck down.

"YEAH! WE SAVED THE TOWN! MANLY!" yelled Elfman, pumping a fist into the air.

_"Everyone okay?"_

"Yeah…"

"You're all really something,"

thought Erza.

"_Heh…so are you."_

"Whoever struck down part of the northern lacrima, thanks. I can at least still stand, otherwise I'd be paralyzed."

"Whoopi for you,"

thought someone sarcastically, "_I don't think many of us are going to be getting up anytime soon."_

"Anyone that can still fight, this isn't over. Laxus still needs to be captured. We may have stopped Thunder Palace, but he still needs to be punished for crimes against the guild."

"Where is he? We'll meet you there?"

thought Cana.

_"Cana?! You're still standing after that?! How?"_

Naruto saw Cana smile at the surprise. _"I don't know, Gray. I guess I'm just stronger than you now." _Her thoughts were dripping with smugness.

_"Ugh…"  
_  
Naruto smiled and rolled his eye at the childish banter.

_"Meet me at Kardia Cathedral. I've left Natsu to fight Laxus alone and despite how strong Natsu it, Laxus is in a whole other league,"_ thought Erza, responding to Cana's narrowing at the idea of taking down Laxus, Naruto turned to the group.

"Lead the way."

They all looked determined before Elfman started running in the direction of the cathedral with everyone following after him._  
_

* * *

**AN: Some of the speeches in this chapter were similar to that of the anime. I don't want Naruto to be the center of Fairy Tail, I want him to be a part of Fairy Tail, so certain events will occur as it normally would have. **


	4. Chapter 3: Laxus' Madness

**Disclaimer: Fairy Tail and Naruto are works of their respective creators. I do not own or gain profit from this story.**

**So I'm a little sensitive regarding this chapter so please be kind. It's the first time I've ever written a fight scene that was significantly different from what happens in the anime. I question how well I described what is happening, cuz I don't know how well I'm translating what's happening in my head down on paper. I much prefer low key scenes, but it can't really be avoided in Naruto/FairyTail-verse.**

**This is essentially the end of Naruto's introductory arc. Beyond this I intend to have Naruto grouped up in his own team, preferably doing his own jobs if I can think of anything, and finding more keys along the way.**

**Don't worry regarding the third key. I'll be revealing it shortly, I just didn't want to have him reveal everything.**

**Also, I feel as though I should reveal this now because I don't know when I'll be able to place it into the plot. Naruto has a limitation on how many Beasts he can summon at a time. This limitation changes according to circumstances, which is why I decided to say something now since I don't know when I'd be able to say something about it.**

**Lastly, I rarely if ever make up any of the spells or moves that are going to be used. Fairy Tail members moves will be moves they've used in the anime/manga and Naruto's beasts are abilities they or their jinchuuriki had. Slight alteration will be made if necessary.**

* * *

**Chapter 3: Laxus' Madness**

They ran through the twisting streets of Magnolia towards the Kardia Cathedral, where Naruto could see the occasional flash of lightning or fire burst in the sky. At this point, he was only really following the group as a formality. Kind of difficult not to assume that's where Natsu and Laxus were.

He would have summoned Kokuo, but in order to carry all five of them at once Naruto would have had to summon him at a larger size. Judging from the occasional narrow streets they would occasionally take, the Gobi would have just ended up causing more damage to the town.

"There it is!" yelled Mirajane, pointing at a large archway entrance to a building that looked like it had seen better days.

"I think I see Erza," commented Cana as they approached the building.

Looking over her shoulder, Naruto could see a dark red haired woman ahead of them. She was clearly injured but still able to run with a slight limp.

"Erza!" yelled Mirajane, causing the other woman to pause and turn around, which allowed the five of them to catch up with her.

Erza glanced at Naruto briefly before gesturing her head towards the building. "Let's go!"

There was a pressure in the air. A large concentration of magic was gathering in the building and it felt more powerful than anything Naruto had ever felt before.

_'What is this feeling' _he thought. Looking at Mirajane and Erza he saw that they both had worried expressions on their faces and they both picked up speed.

As they neared the entrance, Naruto could see a familiar figure running into the building ahead of them. _'Levy?' _

"Laxus! Stop!" Levy's voice could be heard as they entered the main hall and caught up with her. She turned as they approached from behind and Naruto could see she was in a state of panic.

"Levy!" "Idiot! What are you all doing here?!" Two figures in the ground had yelled at them._ 'Wait a minute…those are the jackasses that ran me over earlier!'_

Standing above the two figures was a large muscular blond man that was radiating power. Cracks of lightning and pure magic exploded around him and between his hands was a ball of light that was gathering energy.

_'Laxus.'_

Laxus was yelling as he continued to raise the power of the spell. This was not a man in his right state of mind. This was a man who was on the brink of insanity. There was no bargaining with him.

"He's casting Fairy Law!" Cana yelled, "We need to get out of here!"

"Fairy Law?" Naruto asked.

"It's one of the three sacred spells of Fairy Tail," Mirajane said, looking at Laxus with wide eyes, "The spell was never meant to be used to attack the member. It is a last resort to deter those that wished to harm the guild. The blast attacks all those that the caster views as an enemy…in this case…us."

"Laxus!" Levy yelled once again, "Our master…your grandfather is in critical condition!"

For a brief moment, Laxus stopped his yelling and looked like he'd snapped back to reality. All of the guild members' attention was on Levy now. Naruto continued to stare at Laxus, who had not stopped casting his spell, but had forestalled releasing it to hear what she had to say.

"Please! Stop this! You need to go see him!"

"C-critical condition?...gonna die." The boy with pink hair on the ground whispered as he looked at the ground in shock.

"That's perfect," Laxus replied, smiling in his madness, "Now I have another chance at becoming master!"

The shock on everyone's face was evident at the callous reply he had to his own grandfathers well being.

Laxus started laughing madly as the energy began to expand from his hands. The light filling every crevice of the building in glowing energy.

"HAHAHA!" he laughed manically, "Farewell, Fairy Tail! I'm going to rebuild this guild from the very beginning! We will be superior to everyone and they will all tremble in fear!"

Levy collapsed to her knees in resignation, "This can't be happening…"

"It's not!" yelled Erza, swinging out her sword and rushing towards Laxus, "I won't let it. The rest of you leave, get out of here as fast as you can! Laxus! You have gone too far! Consider me your executioner!"

Before anybody could protest, Mirajane had transformed into her Satan Soul form, run forward and grabbed the two prone figures on the ground before flying up and out the window.

Following her queue, Elfman also transformed into his Beast form, tossed Levy over his shoulder and grabbing Cana and Juvia around the neck.

"We can't leave Erza!" screamed Cana, as she struggled under Elfman's arm.

"You're not," yelled Naruto, pulling out a key, "I'm staying."

Elfman had exited the building before she could continue to protest and Naruto turned just in time to see Erza swing her sword down at Laxus only for him to kick her in the stomach before she was able to make contact.

_'She's still to injured from taking out so many lacrima alone!'_

"You're too late!" Laxus yelled in glee,"Fairy Law...Activate!"

The light in his hands exploded in a burst of energy that quickly covered Laxus and Erza from view. There was nothing Naruto could do before the wall of light was upon him.

The spell continued its expansion as it grew to the size of Magnolia just as guild members began to recover enough to stand up. Anyone standing outside the borders of the town would have seen a large flash of light that encompassed the town borders before it began to fade

* * *

Hands shielding his eyes from being blinded Naruto waited for the result of this powerful spell. _'Shouldn't I be feeling something by now?' _he thought, _'Oh my god! What if I'm already dead? What if it was so fast that I never even felt it happening?!'_

He began frantically thinking of all the things he'd always wanted to do before he'd died.

_'WAAAAHHH! I never had a wife! Or kids! I never got all nine gate keys! And worst of all...I'll never build my own ramen stand! This world is cruel!'_

Feeling the light fade from beneath his eyelids, Naruto slowly lowered his arms and blinked a few times. _'I'm okay?'_

Looking over at where Laxus had kicked Erza she appeared alright as well. In fact, she was getting up and dusting the dirt off of her armor.

Seeing him looking at her she asked, "Are you injured?"

Shaking his head, he replied, "I'm fine."

Turning to look at Laxus, they found him staring at them before looking down at his own hands. "I hit them with all the power I had…" He was breathing hard. Confusion and shock written all over his face.

"All the townspeople and guild members remain unharmed," said a voice from behind Naruto.

Looking over his shoulder he found Freed, still injured from his fight with Mirajane, but otherwise alright leaning against the door frame. "Not a single person was taken out…"

"Impossible!" yelled Laxus, "My Fairy Law was perfect! Nobody could have survived!"

"It is because of the nature of your heart, Laxus," replied Freed, "You inherited more than your strength and magic from the master, you also gained feelings for the people of this guild."

Laxus gaped at Freed, partly in shock, partly in anger.

"Fairy Law is a spell that affects only those that the caster considers a true enemy," Freed said. He looked right into Laxus' eyes as he continued, "You know what this means? Laxus."

Erza, not taking her eyes off of Laxus answered, "The spell knew his true feelings towards the guild."

"You can't lie to magic, Laxus," said Freed, "The fact that the spell affected no one means you do not actually consider anybody in this town, let alone the guild, your enemy."

"N-no! Everyone in this guild is my enemy!" Laxus yelled, more to himself than anybody else in the room.

"Stop this madness now," replied Freed, "Go and see your grandfather."

Laxus' lightning magic crackled around him as Freed attempted to approach.

"I-I don't give a shit about that old man!" he magic exploded and body enlarged, "I am not just my grandfather's grandchild! I AM LAXUS!"

Lightning surged through the ground and air around Laxus' body as his rage increased.

"We know who you are!" yelled Erza, gaining his attention "But you've harmed our comrades for the last time! Konso! Raitei no Yoroi!" (Requip! Lightning Empress Armor!)

Her entire body glowed as her armor shifted.

_'Was she naked for a second?' _Naruto thought, tilting his head to the side and squinting for a better look.

As the light faded, she was revealed to be wearing an outfit with a bluish-green upper body that flared out into a white skirt that flared out in four directions. Her hair was now in a yellow head band and braided down her back. As a finishing touch, she now held a staff that ended in a two-pronged fork.

(**AN**: This armor is difficult to describe without taking a long time, if you really need to know, search Lightning Empress Armor on Fairy Tail wiki)

"SHUT UP ERZA!" screamed Laxus as he turned to fire a bolt of lightning at her.

But, she was too fast. Dodging his first attack, she ducked under his arm, swung her staff that also crackling with electric power, and blasted him through the roof before quickly jumping up to follow him.

Naruto looked over at Freed, who was now sitting over on the floor with his back propped up against the wall to keep himself upright. "You okay over there?" he asked.

Freed looked up and answered, "Yeah, just he just hit me with a few jolts. Mirajane did worse. Nothing serious."

Naruto glanced up at the hole in the ceiling Laxus and Erza had made. "I'm going after them," he said and raised the key he had pulled out before Laxus had activated Fairy Law.

"Naruto," called Freed. Naruto turned around to look back at Freed, who was smirking at him before continuing, "Knock some sense into him."

Naruto smirked back. "I'll try and knock a few teeth while I'm at it."

He tossed the key into the air where it spun a few times before it stopped and remained floating in the air. Freed saw the symbol "III" on the handle.

"Hyoi gattai! Sanbi no Maho!" (Spirit Integration! Magic of the Three Tail!)

(AN: In case anyone recognizes it. Yes, the first term is from Shaman King, but it's pretty much just the terminology that I'm borrowing, nothing shamanistic will be occurring)

They black key glowed briefly before exploding in a bright red light that encompassed Naruto.

* * *

Many of the townspeople were now looking up at the cathedral, watching as two of Fairy Tail's S-class mages clashed. Both were shooting deadly levels of electrical power at each other and using that same power to make incredible jumps in the air.

"Just die already!" screamed Laxus as he threw a charged fist in Erza's direction, "Rairyu no Hoken!" (Lightning Dragon's Fist)

Erza jumped over the lightning projectile and plunged the end of her staff into the ball of lightning before whipping it back in Laxus' direction. He jumped further up the cathedral roof to avoid the attack only for Erza to catch him midleap and swing her staff, now crackling with her own lightning, into his stomach.

Laxus was blasted into the side of another building, where he crashed straight through the wall.

Titania slammed her staff into the ground for support. She was panting in exhaustion.

'_Dammit…I can't keep up with this much longer. My magic is still depleted from taking down Thunder Palace and Laxus was already stronger to begin with,' _she thought.

A wheel of lightning burst from the hole that Laxus had crashed into and spun quickly in Erza's direction.

_'My best bet is to keep pushing his spells back at him. He can't eat it if it's his own,' _Erza thought as she used her staff to gather Laxus' lightning once again. After years of being on teammates with Natsu, she knew that a Dragon Slayer was incapable of consuming their own magic.

Just as she swung the spell back at the Lightning Dragon Slayer's direction, he burst from beneath her feet and grabbed her head. Laxus slammed his lightning charged legs into her gut before punching her in the face and sending her flying back into the bell tower above the cathedral.

"Gaaah!" she yelled in pain as he back impacted with the brass bell and she fell back onto the roof tiles. _'Even with the protection my armor gives me against lightning, it's still not enough.' _

Erza lay on her stomach and attempted to use her staff as leverage to stand once again. She looked over at Laxus, his entire body was releasing lightning magic. Even the slightest contact with his body would result in a shock.

Getting back up to her feet, she aimed the forked part of her staff at Laxus.

"Laxus!" she screamed at him, "I shall punish you for attacking our home! Don't you feel any regret?!"

He just grinned manically at her, causing her blood to boil in anger.

She yelled and charged once again and the two began a battle of charged strikes and blocks before Laxus swept his legs beneath her feet, grabbed her face, repeatedly punched her torso with lightning enhanced fists, and tossed her over the side of the building.

Erza lost hold of her staff as she fell and everything seemed to move in slow motion.

She saw the only means by which she could redirect Laxus' blast back at him, her mind too disoriented from the powerful blows she'd just taken to summon it back into her hand. Looking back up as she fell she saw Laxus gathering energy between his two hands and recognized the spell.

_'I can't endure that blast in this state…' _she thought, her eyes widening slightly as Laxus raised his hands to fire.

"Rairyu Hoten-"

Before she could close her eyes, Erza felt arms on her back, catching and slowing her descent.

"-GEKI!" (Lightning Dragon's Heavenward Halberd)

A blast erupted from Laxus' hand and quickly formed itself into the shape of a spear and headed straight for Erza. It exploded and kicked up a cloud of dust from the ground below.

Laughing insanely, Laxus peered over the edge, looking for Erza's damaged and possibly dead form on the ground. As the dust began to settle, his smile quickly faded as he saw the shadow of a figure kneeling.

"What?!" he yelled.

On the ground was a man, with his back turned away from Laxus and Erza carried safely in his arms. He had caught her just before she hit the ground. The man's back was covered in a dark gray armor with spikes that resembled a shell with three tail-like appendages protruding from the bottom. It sizzled, indicating that it had taken and endured Laxus' attack.

Placing Erza back on her feet, he had also somehow managed to catch her staff and handed it back to her. She could barely walk and used her weapon to keep herself from collapsing.

"Thank you," Erza said. She saw that his head was covered in a helmet, but it didn't look like any helmet she'd ever seen before. Only his eyes were visible, but she recognized them despite having only seen it briefly. "Naruto."

He smiled at her and his eyes crinkled. "Yo!"

The helmet was essentially the top and bottom half of Isobu's head covering the top of his skull and bottom of his face. His back was covered in the Sanbi's back shell, while his front had plates of dark red armor going down to his stomach, similar to the summon's underbelly. The symbol "III" in the center.

His arms and legs were covered in the same gray spiky armor as his back, except his hands and feet ended in pointed claws.

From Erza's point of view, it almost looked like a Take Over, except clearly Naruto had not morphed into another being, just covered in it.

"Mind if I tag in?" Naruto asked, "I've got a bit of pent up aggression concerning this guy."

She stared at him, not entirely sure if she should let him. Looking up at Laxus, she noticed that he wasn't doing all too well either. His breathing was slightly labored and his back was hunched. Clearly a battle between Natsu, Gajeel, and herself had worn him out. Turning back to Naruto, who was clearly still in peak condition, she smiled and nodded.

"Do it."

Naruto gave her a thumbs up before turning to face Laxus, who had jumped down and left a crater when he landed.

"So you're Naruto," Laxus said snidely, as he looked him up and down, "This is exactly what I'm talking about. This guild is WEAK! It can't even handle its own problems!"

Naruto stood still, eyeing his opponent for any sudden movements.

"I'm sensing a severe inferiority complex," he said, crossing his arms over his chest as he eyes Laxus.

Erza snorted behind him.

"I am nobody's inferior!" screamed Laxus, the ground beneath his feet broke as lightning sprang from his skin.

"Well, I don't know what else to tell you," Naruto continued in a bored tone, "I'm new to the guild, so I'm pretty sure I've got a pretty impartial opinion on you. Either you've got an inferiority complex or you're seriously trying to overcompensate for something."

He held up a pinky at Laxus. "Get it?"

Laxus screamed in outrage at the implication to his manhood and charged at Naruto with his fists held high. Each step he took causing a cracks to appear in the ground. His eyes glowing an angry yellow as he neared.

Just as Laxus threw his fist forward, Naruto crossed his arms over his chest and clenched, absorbing the impact, but pushed back several feet. He winced slightly, feeling the tingle of electricity, but otherwise he remained unharmed. It was heavy to move in, but the amount of defense Isobu's armor provided was second to none. Erza had leapt out of the way to avoid being hit as well.

After he and Laxus came to a stop from the momentum, Naruto grabbed the arm that had punched him, making sure to dig the claws in for good measure, and flipped Laxus over his shoulder and into the air.

Managing to reorient himself quickly midair, Laxus turned and fired a Lightning Dragon's Fist down at the same time that Naruto inhaled and fired a jet of water from where his mouth would be beneath his armor.

The two spells collided Naruto jumped out of the way as the lightning just barely overpowered his water spell and came crashing down at where he had just been standing.

The same backlash had pushed Laxus towards a wall, but he flipped and landed with his feet against the building before jumping back down on the ground. Refusing to give the enemy anytime to recover, Naruto rushed Laxus and retaliated by throwing three giant pulses of water from his hands, each the size of a beach ball.

As Laxus tried jumped to dodge the first two, the third smashed into his head and his head snapped back from the impact that had the same force as a sledgehammer to the face.

"Why you little shit!" Laxus yelled, pulling his hands together to form a spell. But Naruto was already upon him. Jumping to grab hold of the larger man's shoulders, he latched on before maneuvering himself around so that he was hanging off of Laxus' back. Locking his arms around the neck and hanging on for dear life.

"Get off me!" Laxus screamed and began increasing the output of lightning his body produced and grabbed at the arms that currently had a chokehold on him. He swung side to side to throw him off, but Naruto hung on.

"Not a chance in hell!" yelled Naruto, but he was starting to feel the electricity that Laxus was exerting. His shell was cracking in certain places.

"AAAARGH!" Laxus' power kept increasing and the very earth broke beneath them. Naruto was in the middle of a lightning storm.

*My armor cannot endure this much damage. He is much more powerful than we had anticipated and my shell is most effective when your attention is not split,* Isobu said in Naruto's mind.

*It's fine,* thought Naruto in reply, as he used his magic to reinforce the armor as much as he could, *We just need to hang on a bit longer until I can trap him.*

Locking his legs around Laxus waist, Naruto set his plan into motion.

"Coral Palm!" he yelled, as a red magic circle appeared beneath them and his eyes turned the same red as Isobu's.

Magic coral began forming at where Naruto was in contact with Laxus and began encasing the Dragon Slayer in a cocoon.

Seeing what was happening, Laxus grabbed one of Naruto's arm and leg with one hand each and concentrated as much power as he could into breaking through.

*Naruto-sama! Reinforce the armor!*

Naruto ignored his spirit's panicked request. His magic currently being expended on attempting to trap Laxus rather than reinforce his armor, the plating around the arm and leg Laxus had grabbed cracked under the pressure and shattered.

Pain coursed through Naruto's body and he screamed as lightning ran its course through his body, but he held on tight.

_'If let go of him now then I'm done for. He'll be able to break out. Gotta use everything I got on the coral to make sure he can't break free. Screw the armor,' _thought Naruto. He clenched his arms tighter around Laxus' leg and focused.

"No!" screamed Laxus, as he attempted to move, but his legs were nearly encased at this point and it was getting harder and harder to move. The casing expanded to encase his arms and legs before moving up his torso. He attempted to blast lightning from his hands to bust through the shelling, but it was no good. The magical strength enforcing the coral was stronger than the power he was exerting on it.

Sunlight slowly faded from Laxus' vision as he his face was encased in the living tomb as well. He continued to scream from within his prison, but it did no good. He'd been captured.

Panting from exertion and pain, Naruto released his hold on what was essentially a Laxus Statue and fell backwards. His armor faded as he hit the ground and he lay there, gasping for breath. His vision began to blur and everything went black.

* * *

_Poke… poke… poke…_

Naruto groaned and swatted at whatever was poking him the face and clenched his eyes tighter.

_Poke…poke…poke…poke…._

"Happy. Stop bothering him. He's still recovering," said a familiar voice.

_'Levy?'_

"He just moved though. I'm pretty sure he's awake now," said a child-like voice. The poking began once again, this time much more relentless.

Naruto's arm shot out and grabbed whoever was poking him around the throat.

"Urk!" Opening his eyes, expecting to see a child in his grip, Naruto's left hand slackened in surprise at seeing that he had in fact grabbed a blue talking cat.

"You're awake!"

He turned to find Levy holding a tray of bandages and salves. Naruto looked down to find that his right arm and left leg were wrapped in heavy bandages.

"Ugh…I feel like I was slow roasted over a barbeque put," he said, letting go of Happy, who was beginning to turn bluer from the lack of air. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes with his good arm, he attempted to sit up on the bed.

"You're mean, nyah!" said Happy before wings sprouted out his back and he flew out the window.

Levy was immediately by his side. She placed the tray down on the bedside table and rearranged the pillow so that he had something to lean on. Looking around the room he noticed that it was the same place that he'd seen Makarov and Bisca when he had first arrived.

_'Master!'_

"Master Makarov! I-is he…umm…you know…" Naruto couldn't really finish, in case the worst case scenario had indeed happened.

"He's alright," Levy answered, smiling brightly "Still weak, but he's recovery well because of Porlyusica's medicine."

"Who?"

"She's basically like our guild medic for emergencies, but she usually just prefers to be left alone in the forest unless we really need her."

Naruto nodded. "So what happened to Laxus?"

"He's gone," replied a voice.

Both Naruto and Levy turned towards the door to find Master Makarov standing there in his robes. Erza followed in after him. She was bandaged slightly, but looked to be recovering well.

"I must say Naruto, I am very impressed," Makarov said as he walked in, "Laxus was powerful, even by S-class mage standards, and to incapacitate him even when not at his peak is no small feat."

Naruto gave a large grin and scratched his head in embarrassment, before sobering quickly. "What do you mean he's gone? Did you…." He made a slicing motion across his neck.

"Oh heavens no, we do not do that sort of thing," Master said, waving his hands, "After we chipped away at that casing you put him in, which took hours mind you, he'd already passed out inside from overexerting himself trying to escape. I had him taken back to his home, but he had come by after waking up and I had no choice but to excommunicate him for crimes against the guild."

"Your own grandson?" Naruto asked, "But wasn't he next in line to be guild master?"

"We're not a monarchy," answered Erza, "Although the succession would have likely gone to Laxus, it was never a guarantee."

"What about the rest of the Thunder God Tribe?"

"They will be severely punished, as well as put on a probationary period," Makarov stated, "But those three were my grandson's lackeys through and through. I cannot really blame them entirely. They would have licked his boots with no hesitation if he'd told them to."

'_Man…obsessive much…' _thought Naruto.

"So what now?" he asked.

"Now you rest up," Makarov said, giving Naruto a large smile, "Tonight is the Fantasia Parade and Fairy Tail is the main event. Everyone in the guild still wants to do their performances."

"But I don't have anything prepared."

Makarov waved a hand, "That's alright. You can sit on the sidelines with Gajeel. He's the big angry looking one with hair longer than most of the girls. He said this wasn't really his thing either."

Naruto nodded. Looking over at the side table, he saw that someone had placed his keys on the counter.

"You know, I can probably help with the recovery of some of the guildmates," he said, eyeing Kokuo's key.

Erza shook her head. "We're all fine. You've done enough for a group of people you had just met. Everyone is recovery fine and many can't wait to meet you. Some are pretty shocked that someone would choose to join a guild in the midst of an internal warfare."

He laughed. "Yeah. I'm not really sure what I was thinking, but I guess it's a little too late to change my mind."

Levy smiled and made a move to grab the first aid she'd left on the table earlier.

"Alright," she said, uncapping the salve, "I need to change your bandages and reapply the burn medicine. I'll have someone bring you dinner before the festival starts. You should be able to walk with a crutch, just don't apply too much pressure to your injured leg. What do you want to eat?"

Naruto's smile widened and his eyes lit up. "Ramen please!"

* * *

**Soo….who should be on Naruto's team? ;)**

**This was a particularly difficult chapter for me to write, but I desperately needed to get the introduction of Naruto out of the way and I couldn't really avoid not writing this chapter. It wasn't very enjoyable at certain points and I'm not 100% satisfied, but it had to be done. .I'm going to be attempting to create "jobs" for Naruto and his team to take to create opportunities to find his keys.**


	5. Chapter 4: One…is the loneliest number

**Disclaimer: Fairy Tail and Naruto are works of their respective creators. I do not own or gain profit from this story.**

**Yeah…I've got no skill in regards to giving titles to the chapters, but I felt like this fit.**

**Anyways, sorry that this chapter took longer to update than the other ones. I don't tend to think of what's going to happen per chapter, but rather per arc. So if I wanted to start writing this chapter then I at least wanted to know what I wanted to play out and how this section was going to end. **

**I was also considering the teammates and I'm happy to say that I've finally decided on what is going to happen. This took a lot of time because many of the characters have stories of their own that I want to play out and keep for upcoming arcs. Biggest thing I had to consider was the seven year gap in the anime/manga. Did I want Naruto to age or go to the island? Who did I want to keep on the island? Etc. etc.**

**This chapter goes into more detail about Naruto's magic. It's sort of an "intro" into this arc. It's doesn't follow the canon story line, but it doesn't disrupt it either. Think of it as a my own mini-arc inside the anime. I think having to come up with this on my own was the difficult part.**

* * *

**Chapter 4: One…is the loneliest number**

It's been two weeks since Naruto had joined Fairy Tail and things were running pretty smoothly. He'd gotten to know some of the guild members rather well and had managed to snag a few simple town requests to get himself better acquainted with his new surroundings. Although Evergreen and Bixlow how been rather cool to him since they found out it'd been him to capture Laxus.

Master Makarov had allowed him to sleep in the guild's basement while he tried to save up enough jewels to rent out an apartment. Apparently Fairy Tail used to have a boy's dormitory, but the building had been destroyed due to the some of their more rambunctious tenants. Namely Natsu and Gray. Now all they had were the girl's dormitory while the men just rented apartments, although some of the girls like Lucy opted for cheaper facilities outside the guild.

_'Her rent's 80,000 jewels a month and she thinks that cheap?!' _Naruto thought to himself, _'100,000 jewels for the dormitories?! Good grief…Then again, this guild's pretty famous, the requests come by the hundreds.'_

He thought back to the times that he would just wander from town to town and test his luck at finding the remaining six Primordial Spirit Keys or a decent paying job. Typically he'd usually just stay at a hotel, a friendly townspersons house, or the occasional tree branch. It worked well for him. Unfortunately it also meant Naruto had been living paycheck to paycheck and didn't have any savings to rent an apartment immediately after joining Fairy Tail. Orphan to wandering mage wasn't exactly a high income career choice.

Luckily Master Makarov had offered to let him stay in the guild basement in exchange for helping Mirajane run the bar. It wasn't going to be much longer before Naruto has saved up enough to get a place of his own. He'd already contacted a landlord that owned a cottage near the edge of town, just near the forests, and he'd told Naruto he'd hold the place for another month.

_'I'm probably going to need a team if I want to do the higher paying jobs,' _he thought to himself, as he wiped down one of the barstools while Mirajane cleaned the counter in front of him, _'but who's not already in grouped up?'_

It was the early morning and the rest of the guild would probably be arriving within the next hour to search for job requests for themselves.

"Hey boss! Where do you want me to put these beer kegs?"

Looking up at whoever called him, Naruto saw one of his clones had returned from the market errand he'd sent him on. The clone was currently wheeling in about ten kegs on a large wheelbarrow and was waiting for him to answer.

Naruto pointed over his shoulder. "Just put three behind the counter for the evening rush and the others down into the cellar." The clone nodded at him before doing as he was told.

Mirajane had been ecstatic to learn that he was capable of clone magic. She'd immediately put up a chore list for him to do that ranged from shingling the roof tiles to clearing out the drunks that couldn't manage to get home on their own. This was usually just Cana though.

The clones weren't really for battling purposes, other than to cause distraction or gather information from a safe distance. They could only take one solid hit and they couldn't summon any of the Spirits without the key, and Naruto wasn't about to trust any of his keys to a clone that could vanish if it accidentally tripped on a step. In theory he could make countless clones, but each only had a fraction of his magic to maintain itself, and Naruto's ability to power his spirits was lessened accordingly.

_'What was I thinking of just now?' _he thought as he swept some dirt under the seats when Mirajane wasn't looking, _'Oh right! Teammates!'_

From what he'd seen the better paying jobs were typically outside of the town and usually done in teams because it was usually more difficult or dangerous. Naruto had asked Master Makarov if he could take a larger out of town assignment on his own and been told that since he was still new, it would be better if he waited a while before attempting solos.

"Good morning!"

Naruto looked up to find Levy standing at the entrance with Jet and Droy following closely behind her. He'd originally thought of asking her to team up, but was disappointed when Mirajane had informed him that she was already teamed up with Shadow Gear.

He gave her a friendly goodbye and raised an eyebrow as he noticed the looks of longing coming from her two teammates as she made her way towards the request board. Naruto leaned on his broomstick as he eyed them.

_'__Yikes…they're more like her fanboys than teammates.'_

More members walked in, some yawning and wiping the sleep from their eyes, and others headed straight to the bar for Mirajane to take their breakfast orders. She made a small nod with her head when he saw her looking, silently asking for some help.

A golden magic circle appeared to his side and a clone shimmered to life. Pointing over to where Mirajane stood to direct his copy, the clone saluted before heading over.

A teenager wearing a skin tight black body suit with silver linings running along his arms and legs appeared at the entrance. He did an elegant leap into the building before pirouetting towards the jobs.

_'__Vijeeter Ecor. Dancer Magic,' _thought Naruto as he thought back to the member registry Master had lent to him,_ 'Capable of enhancing allies and decreasing foe powers with his movements. Not bad. Kokuo can already enhance though so maybe it's just a little redundant to be teamed up with him. Plus that outfit's kind of hard to look at.' _Vijeeter had bent down to pick up a fallen request, pulling his suit into a wedgie. Naruto recalled a fellow orphan that he used to hang out with as a child, Rock Lee, aka Bushy Brows due to his ridiculously thick eyebrows. As they grew older, Rock Lee had gained an obsession with peak physical performance and had exchanged all his clothes for a skin tight green outfit, similar to what Vijeeter was currently wearing.

_'__Eww…' _Naruto thought with a shudder.

_'__Who else have I got?' _he continued as he looked back at towards the entrance. A blonde dark skinned girl walked in wearing an orange cat hat. _'Ooo…orange…bonus points! Lets see, I think her name is Chico=C=Hammit…weird name.'_

Naruto watched as she sat at a table with a man wearing a dark maroon jacket and sunglasses and began conversing with him. _'Legend of City Magic. Gathers the wandering soul from around Magnolia and can command them to do battle for her. Drawback, if she steps out of the city then the souls will leave her in order to remain in the town._

He frowned at this. Naruto wasn't one to judge someone based on their magical preference, but this seemed rather limiting if he wanted her to be a teammate. _'Guess she's a no too. Making a living is possible with the in town requests, but I need to be able to travel if I want to search different areas for the keys….NEXT!'_

Naruto sighed to himself. _'I wonder if it's appropriate to ask the Master if he's up to go on a mission with me? He's small, I could just put him in my travel pack.'_

Mirajane was his first thought when he considered teammates. Watching her in action was both terrifying and amazing. She had clearly already forgiven Freed after their fight, but you could still occasionally see the green haired man flinch and rub his shoulder when she walked by. Unfortunately, she'd declined his request, stating that she was very happy being the barmaid. Apparently she was also pretty well paid, Erza had told him that anything regarding how the guild runs to job requests usually ran through Mirajane unless it specifically needed the guild Master's attention.

He'd also asked Erza if she wanted to go on missions with him, but she'd told him that she was already on a team with Natsu, Gray, Lucy, and that little cat creature. _'What was his name? Some kind of emotion. Sad? Nah, that can't be it. Jubilee? Nope, I'm pretty sure that's a comic character. Happy?...Maybe.'_

She'd invited him to go with them on the mission to take down the dark guild _Oración Seis_, but declined when he found out it could take several days that he needed to find a place to live. Besides, it was a four guild alliance against one dark guild. What could possibly go wrong?

He smiled at the memory of the first time he spoke to Lucy before she left.

_Flashback_

**_It was the two days after the Fantasia Parade and Naruto had been given Levy's stamp of approval to leave the infirmary. Currently Naruto was sitting at one of the tables closest to the bar and enjoying a breakfast of broiled fish, rice, and miso soup. Mirajane had agreed to put ramen on the menu soon after he'd started crying and begging when he found out it wasn't available. Elfman had called him 'unmanly.'_**

**"Hi!" said a voice behind him, turning around and swallowing a mouthful of fish, he saw a pretty blonde girl smiling at him.**

**_"_****_I'm Lucy. You must be Naruto right?" she asked._**

**_Wiping his mouth with his sleeve, Naruto smiled back and stuck out his hand for a handshake. "Yeah, nice to meet you. Wanna sit down?" He gestured to the seat in from of him._**

**_"_****_Thanks," she said as she took her seat, "So I just wanted to say thank you for helping us out. I'm pretty surprised you were willing to join the guild in the middle of a battle."_**

**_Naruto laughed. "Well, you guys certainly left an impression. Honestly, I made a pit stop to join another guild before coming here. I think they were called Mermaid Heel."_**

**_"_****_Eh? But isn't that an all female guild?"_**

**_"_****_Yeah…I didn't know about that," he scratched his chin as he thought back, "All I really remember was someone screaming 'NO MEN!' when I asked to join. Next thing I know I'm hanging upside down from a tree in wearing a pink ball gown and high heels. Upside, I was able to pawn the dress for like three days worth of food."_**

**_Lucy laughed at his story. She looked down and noticed the three keys hanging around his neck and pointed excitedly. "You're a Celestial Spirit Wizard?!" she pulled out her ring of keys and began speaking rapidly "Me too! Which ones do you have? I've managed to find six of the gold zodiac keys and four silver keys. There's Aquarius, she's a little mean, but that's okay. This one's Taurus, he's a pretty perverted bull, but he's super strong. This one's Loke, cool story with him, he was actually-"_**

**_"_****_Woah woah woah," he shook his hands to stop her, "I'm not a Celestial Spirit Wizard."_**

**_Removing the chain with his keys over his neck, he placed them on the table for better inspection. "See? Not gold or silver. They're black keys."_**

**"I've never seen Celestial Spirit Keys like these before," she said, inspecting them closely.**

**_"_****_That's because they're not," replied Naruto, taking them back, "They're Primordial Spirit Keys. It's similar to Celestial Spirit Summoning in certain aspects, but different in others."_**

**_"_****_How so?"_**

**_"_****_Well for one thing, although there are only twelve gold keys, you have a large variety of silver keys that serve different functions. It's just a matter of finding them. Only nine Primordial Spirit Keys exist and only one mage can exist that is capable of using them at a time."_**

**_"_****_Really? So if anyone else finds the other keys they won't be able to use it?" she asked._**

**_"_****_Pretty much. The key would either remain inert or if it's a volatile spirit, possibly even harm them. The nine spirits are intrinsically linked and they will only allow for one summoner at a time. The only way for someone to summon my spirits is if I release my position or if I die, but the keys would just scatter themselves and need to be found again."_**

**_"_****_Wow! That's pretty amazing. You're pretty much unique mage then if only one can exist at a time? Bummer though, I wish I could summon your spirits just to see what they're like," Lucy ended glumly._**

**_"_****_Hey, don't sell yourself short," said Naruto, trying to cheer her up, "On the upside, regardless of how many you can summon at a time right now, you pretty much have the potential to summon more and more the stronger you become."_**

**_"_****_Well right now my best is two Zodiac keys, maybe three silver keys, but I'll get stronger soon. You mean you can't do multiple summoning?"_**

**_"_****_Well sort of. It depends," he lifted Kokuo's key and pointed to the symbol 'V,' "See that? That stands for five. I am only allowed to summon up to the number nine if I wish to maintain control. I don't know what happens if I summon over that, but I'm pretty sure it's not a good thing." _**

**_"_****_Interesting…" she said more to herself than him, perking back up she smiled at him, "Well, I hope we can do some jobs together soon. Are you sure you don't want to go on the mission with us? Erza told us she'd invited you."_**

**_"_****_Nah," Naruto replied, waving her off, "I really need to find a place to live. Master's been nice enough to offer the basement, but I swear there are rats down there. Plus I'm pretty sure it's just a matter of time until the ceiling caves in on me cuz of all the fights that happen at the bar."_**

**"Well good luck," Lucy said, she pulled out a paper and pen, "This is contact of a man that's renting out a nearby cottage. Pretty affordable, I just wanted something closer to the guild." She handed him the paper with an address.**

**_"_****_LUCY!" yelled Natsu from the doorway, "WE'RE LEAVING!"_**

**_"_****_Coming!" she yelled back. She got up and turned back to Naruto, "It was nice meeting you!"_**

**_"_****_Likewise."_**

_End Flashback_

"Love Rival and Gray-sama are not back yet?"

Turning towards the bar at the weird question he saw Juvia drinking a juice and Gajeel munching on a loaf of bread. Naruto had already met Juvia and was aware that she used water magic with far more versatility than Isobu. She seemed like a decent girl, if a bit Gray-obsessed, but from what he's been told she was a pretty capable mage as well.

Naruto felt something warm in his chest. Looking down, he found that it was the Sanbi's key heating his skin.

*What is it?* he thought to Isobu.

*Well…umm…I just thought J-Juvia would make a good teammate,* Naruto heard in his head.

*Really? I mean she can do a bunch of other stuff, but I've pretty much got you for water magic don't I?*

*Yeah, b-but her spells have a wider r-range of effects, plus she c-can turn into water,* replied Isobu, *You won't need to w-worry as much about her getting hurt. Juvia is strong, and kind…..loving….pretty.*

It was pretty clear that the spirit was talking more to itself than Naruto at this point.

*Umm…okay?* thought Naruto, before turning back to his sweeping and looking at Juvia.

_'__Hmmm….maybe,' _he thought, Naruto watched as Gajeel called his clone for a refill, _'Gajeel Redfox. Iron Dragon Slayer Magic. From what I hear he was pretty much the big baddie from another guild for a while and was considered an S-class mage before transferring. Solid powerhouse fighter, more brawn than brain, but seems like an alright guy. He'd make a pretty good teammate for offense and defense. I wonder how well he'd do as a teammate. Wait a second…isn't he the other guy that ran me over with Natsu?" _

"Naruto!," called Mirajane from behind the counter, "You can leave now if you want. Just leave me two clones just in case."

"Yosh!" He saluted her before going to put the broom back into the closet.

* * *

Naruto stood in front of the request board as he scanned for job requests that were in areas he hadn't been to before.

_'__Hmm…lets see,'_ he thought to himself, _'Master was nice enough to ask anyone to contact me if they hear anything about the other keys, but I can't just sit around and let them do all the work.'_

"Oi! Naruto!" said a female voice behind him, turning he saw Cana walking towards him, "You've been standing there for fifteen minutes now. We don't need another Nab in the guild."

"Shut up Cana!" yelled a large dark man in a poncho and a rather unfortunate bowl haircut.

"Hey! I'll shut up when you get your lazy ass in gear and finally pick a request," she yelled back, Cana jabbed her thumb behind her to point at Naruto," Naruto's only done jobs in town these past two weeks and he's already outpaced what you've done in the past year!"

"I told you!" yelled Nab, "I'm looking for jobs that only I can do!"

Cana turned back to Naruto, waving Nab off while rolling her eyes. "His idea of a job only he can do is easy but high paid. If that existed than I'd have snagged that so fast I'd have beaten Jet's speed record. So what you looking for?"

"Just other jobs in the town," replied Naruto, "I'm only about 30,000 jewels short of getting the cottage."

"30,000? That's it?" she asked, "Why don't you take an out of town one? Two low level requests should bump you up pretty fast."

"Yeah, I'd do that, but Master said he'd much prefer out of town quests to be with a team if you're new to the guild. No team, no travel." Naruto sighed, "At least for a little while."

"I get that," Cana nodded in understanding, "My first out of town quest had actually been with Natsu. It was a simple spy mission to find illegal fishing in a protected area and contact the authorities. Natsu got so excited when we found the fishermen that he attacked and caused more in damage than the quest was worth. Ended up paying damages and I've refused to go on missions with him since."

Naruto laughed. "Well I'm so broke that I can't afford to cause damage."

"In that case, I'll team up with you."

He immediately stopped laughing. "What? Seriously?"

"Sure, why not?"

"But I heard you've been in the guild longest for our age group. I kind of assumed you've already got some sort of team or system down."

She shrugged. "I take the occasional mission once in a while, but I have enough to live pretty decently. You know those guild action figures and souvenirs we sell?"

Naruto nodded. Master had him do a photo shoot to get his measurements for his own action figure.

"The female action figures tend to sell a lot. Right now I think either Erza or Mirajane have the highest sales, but about two years ago my action figure sold the most and is still the highest record we have."

"Oh that's cool. So you live off the residual checks?" he asked, "How'd you get the action figures to sell so well?"

"Yep, enough to last me a while," Cana took a swig from a flask he didn't notice her carrying before looking him dead in the eye in all seriousness, "I slipped the doll maker some money to make my figures have removable clothing and be anatomically correct."

"Anatomicically corr-" he paused as he let that information sink in. Naruto looked at what Cana was wearing. Tight brown short pants….and a blue bikini top. His face heated up and he was pretty sure that he was turning read. "Umm…uh….well…"

"GAH HAHAHAHAHA!" She cracked up and pointed at him, "You believed me?! Ahahahaha!"

He crossed his arms and frowned at her. "Well you made it sound like it was true."

"Hahaha!," she continued, wiping the tears from her eyes, "Nah, I've just got a decent amount of money saved up from when I was younger before coming to Fairy Tail. I ain't rich, but it's enough to support myself for a few years and can offset how much I spend by taking a job every once in a while. I figure it's time to actually get out of this town."

Cana offered her hand. "So what do you say? Teammates?"

Naruto smirked before taking her hand. "Teammates."

"So you have any other people in mind or we going to do a dynamic duo kind of deal and let the rumors about our naughty out of town affairs fly through the rumor mill?"

His cheeks reddened slightly at her candor, but figured he may as well get used to it. Embarrassing person in this manner seems to be her thing. He recalled seeing her grab Lucy's breasts at one point to compare.

"Honestly, I'm not quite sure yet," Naruto said, scratching the back of his head, "I need people that are okay with traveling to the further job requests. I've actually been considering Juvia and Gajeel. They're pretty new to the guild also and from what I've seen it's pretty much just the two of them most of the time."

"Yeah…a lot of people are still iffy about Gajeel because of the Phantom incident. Juvia was part of Phantom Guild too, but she wasn't the one to attack the guild hall. He's an okay guy though. Other than Natsu, he tends to just ignore everyone else," Cana added, "Upside, they've worked together before and clearly they're loyal to whatever guild they're in if they'd risk an inter-guild war just because their master said so."

Naruto nodded in agreement.

"Come on," she said, "Let's go ask them." Cana hadn't even made it two steps before the guild doors bust open.

"WE'RE HOME!"

* * *

Team Natsu had just arrived home and Juvia had started crying so much at the safe return of her Gray-sama that her tears flooded the entire hall. Everyone had yelled at Gray to calm her down so that they could get the party started from their safe return.

Everyone in the returning teams was pretty banged up and all looked as though they could all use some rest, but they just pushed through and partied on. They had even managed to snag a new member into the guild. The Sky Dragon Slayer, Wendy Marvell. She was a young girl with a talking cat like Happy, and long dark blue hair.

Natsu was currently regaling the story of the defeat of Oración Seis' deadly weapon, Nirvana, at his hands. Gray was currently trying to get Juvia to let go of him, while Erza went to inform the Master the details of the mission.

"Naruto!"

Cana had been explaining what a few of her cards were capable of doing for him, while drinking a barrel of liquor attached to a rather long tube when Lucy interrupted them.

"Hey Lucy!" he called as she sat next to Cana's barrel, "You guys seem to have done well in the mission. You okay though?" He looked at her bandaged face and arms, but they didn't seem to really bother her that much. "Do you want me to heal you up?" Naruto asked, moving to pull out Kokuo's key.

"No, it's okay," Lucy replied, "I'm mostly okay now. We've got a few days to rest up so no need. Besides, Wendy's capable of Healing Magic, and she took care of the worst of our injuries."

"Really?" Cana asked, "But I thought legitimate Healing Magic was considered a lost art."

"Yeah, I can only really heal flesh wounds," added Naruto.

"It's her Sky Dragon Slayer Magic," answered Lucy, "She can heal poisons, illness, injuries, fatigue, and even stuff like motion sickness."

"Wow…" he replied, "She'll be really handy to have around."

"Yeah, we're really glad she decided to come with us to Fairy Tail," she said, before her smile widened further and an excited look crossed her face, "But that's not why I was looking for you. Check this out!"

Lucy rummaged around her side bag and pulled out three gold Zodiac Keys.

Cana took a swig before looking down at the keys. "I don't get it."

Lucy rolled her eyes before turning back to Naruto. "That's what I've been hearing from everyone. I figured someone that used summoning magic would appreciate how awesome this is."

"Woah! You got three of the Zodiac keys from this one mission?!" Naruto exclaimed. Lucy smiled, clearly appreciating the reaction. "How did you manage that? Even finding one is difficult and you somehow managed to track down nine total."

"One of the members of Oración Seis was a woman named Angel, she was a Celestial Spirit Mage as well, but she was horrible to her spirits," replied Lucy as she placed them back into her bag, "She'd use them like living shields and force them to fight amongst themselves. I mean, I know they can't be killed, but they still feel pain. She used one of her own spirits as a distraction and then blasted through it just to get to me."

Naruto frowned at how Lucy described that woman.

"Luckily when she was arrested her contracts to the spirits were broken," she continued, "It's one of the rules to maintain a contract with Celestial Spirit. Her three Zodiac Keys requested that I take over as their summoner, so now I have them." Lucy smiled, clearly happy at the turn of events.

"Well I'm really happy for you," said Naruto, smiling at her.

"Thanks, but I've actually got something for you as well. Picked it off Angel before she was taken away," Lucy reached back into her pocket and placed something on the table.

It was a black key with the symbol "I" etched into the handle.

"NO WAY!" Naruto screamed, causing a few partiers to look in his direction as he picked up the key, "You found one of my keys?!" He shook from excitement. Finding them was a long and difficult process and the fact that someone in the guild he'd just joined had managed to track one down made him ecstatic.

_'__I knew joining a guild was a good idea. More eyes and ears everywhere.'_

"Cool," said Cana as she stood up and stretched her back out, "Whip it out and let's see what that spirit can do."

"It's not that simple," Naruto replied with a frown.

"How come?" Lucy asked, "I just summon and make the contract according to what days of the week they're available for summoning. Isn't that what you do?"

"Not really, I can summon at any point it's just that each spirit has a name. Like how my third key's spirit is referred to as the Sanbi, but his name is Isobu. In order to summon a Primordial Spirit, I must first earn the right to know his name so that I can speak it during their summoning."

"Earn?" asked Cana, "How would you do that?"

"Straight up fight? Test of wits? Working under pressure? Could be a variety of things. It depends entirely on the spirit involved. Failing a test usually means that the key will just scatter and find a new hiding spot, which means I'd have to start searching for it all over again."

"Wow. That sounds kind of tough," said Lucy, "I don't know if I'd be able to do that."

"Well, no time like the present, right?" said Cana as she walked around the table and clapped a hand down on Naruto's shoulder.

"Yeah, I guess. I hate doing this though," he replied, "Taking a test is one thing, but taking a test when you don't know what it could be nerve-wracking. Wanna come Lucy? I'll need to do this outside in case it's a particularly destructive spirit."

"I don't think I'll be much help, but sure," she replied as she stood up to head out the front door.

*Kokuo,* Naruto mentally messaged, *Are there any rules regarding help to fulfill a test?*

*Nothing in particular, Naruto-sama,* replied the Gobi, *Primordial Spirits are team oriented by nature, either by working with each other or you, so we do not consider your accomplishments diminished if a comrade happens to give you assistance.*

*Just checkin', thanks!*

The three walked off to the side of the main walkway, towards the grass, before coming to a stop. Lucy and Cana stood behind him as he pulled out the new key.

"You guys ready?" he asked.

Both nodded.

None of his magic was required for a first summoning, as he was not bonded to this spirit yet, so he simply thrust out his hands with the key and the dark red magic circle appeared around it.

"Hirake! Ichibi no Tobira!" (Open! Gate of the One Tail!)

**DING DONG!**

Sand burst forth from the center of the magic circle and spun in the air in front of them before it started to coalesce into a more solid form. After a moment, a tanuki, about two times Naruto's height towered over them with its eyes closed.

Its flesh was made up of the sand that it had come from and a black band went across where its eyes were. Swirling black lines covered all over its body up to a tail that was nearly doubled its size and was formed into a scaly pattern. The creatures hands were large and meaty looking while its feet were also large, but stubby. It also had large pointed ears that were black in the interior. Finishing it off was a large jagged mouth that stretched from one end of its round head to the other, forming a rather terrifying grin.

"Uhhh…." said Lucy, as she eyed the daunting creature. She and Cana took a step back while Naruto took a few steps closer.

He clasped his hands together and bowed respectfully towards the creature.

"Great spirit, my name is Naruto and I am currently the one who seeks to unite all nine keys of the Primordial Spirit. May I please hear your name so that I can call upon you should the need occur?"

The creature stood motionless as it sat on its hind legs. Sand swirled slowly around it.

_'__Sigh…didn't think it'd be that easy,'_ thought Naruto_, __'__Just once I wish one of them would just gimme a break and tell me their name without any problems.'_

"If you do not wish to surrender your name so easily, then might I ask for the task you have created so that I may earn it." He knelt to one knee and lowered his head.

"My name?" Said a deep rumbling voice. Naruto looked up to find that the creature had opened its eyes to reveal glowing yellow pupils staring back at him.

"You shall never know my name…"

Naruto's eyes widened in shock. 'What?! He's supposed to give me his task!'

"No human shall ever know my name again!" the Ichibi's voice rose as the sand swirled around it moreso, "I'm free and I will never be bound to another human ever again! I have awakened and I shall not be put back to slumber! HAHAHAHA!"

It laughed madly as a tornado of sand encompassed the creature and blew Naruto back towards Lucy and Cana. All three tumbled back at the force of the blast and covered their eyes for protection.

They could see the silhouette of the One Tail in the center of the tornado and watched as its body began to dissipate and turn into sand as well before the swirling sand began to dissipate, flew into the sky, and vanished.

Naruto was panting as he sat on the ground trying to regain his bearings. _'__What the hell?!'_

"Ummm…"

He turned around to look at shocked looking Cana that was still staring at the sky. "Was that supposed to happen?" she asked.

Naruto looked down at his hand. Still clutching the rogue spirit's key. The "I" seemed to mock him.

"No….no, that wasn't supposed to happen."

* * *

**AN: I'm not sure how many of you feel with me leaving out Naruto from the Oracion Seis arc, but I put a lot of thought into it. I was really adamant about not having Naruto be another member of team Natsu, and I felt like if I'd allowed him to join then there'd be no turning back. I also didn't want to kick out anyone on their current team. Considering they already had 4 Fairy Tail, 5 if you count Wendy, then it just felt a bit crowded if I added Naruto. The other guilds only had 4 at most.**

**Also, someone mentioned for me to avoid author's notes in the middle of the chapters as it can be a bit distracting. Sorry, I'll try to avoid those from now on unless absolutely necessary. **

**LASTLY! Anyone wanna draw a cover for me? I kind of want the 9 gate keys, the only requirement is that they need to have the roman numeral symbol on the handle section. I'll make sure to credit whoever. Please and thank you! =)**


End file.
